 |
| Samsung introduces a maintenance mode feature |
Samsung introduces a maintenance mode feature to hide your personal information from prying eyes
Samsung today announced a new privacy feature, Maintenance Mode, designed to protect users' devices from monitoring personal information.
The tech giant said in a blog post that the global rollout of the Maintenance Mode feature on select Galaxy devices is following a successful beta program in South Korea and its initial rollout in China.
Samsung explains that Maintenance Mode can alleviate the anxiety of taking a personal device to a repair shop by allowing users to block access to their personal data, such as photos, messages or contacts.
"All our lives are played on our phones, including credit card information and family photos," said Seungwon Shin, Samsung's vice president of mobile experience and head of the security team. With maintenance mode, we are more confident that Galaxy users can maintain their privacy even if they give their phone to someone else. "
"This is just the latest example of our ongoing effort to offer new ways for people to feel safe and in control, so they can have peace of mind in new mobile experiences, knowing we support them," Shen added.
Samsung maintenance mode function
According to Samsung, Maintenance Mode is a way to create a separate user account when a user sends a device in for repair so that they can perform basic functions without accessing their private information. Users just need to select maintenance mode in Battery and Device Maintenance menu under Settings and restart the smartphone. After the restart, all their personal information including photos, files, and messages will be restricted.
In maintenance mode, the person responsible for maintaining the device also cannot restore user-installed applications. Once the owner exits maintenance mode, any data or accounts created while using maintenance mode will be automatically deleted.
Samsung notes that Galaxy devices are protected by Knox, a defense-grade security platform that provides a multi-layered approach to protection. By working openly with trusted industry partners, any potential threat can be identified and eliminated faster.
The company emphasizes that users can ensure their privacy through the software and hardware security features that it provides in its devices, as Galaxy devices provide control and transparency with the following features: Security and privacy dashboard and data manager permissions, where users can easily determine what happens to their data.
Samsung said it is constantly evaluating new ways to keep users safe and striving to find new ones. In 2021, the company introduced the Knox Vault feature that isolates the most important information from the rest of the device. Earlier this month, the company unveiled the Knox Matrix, its vision for next-level security across multiple devices.
The launch in China in September last year comes after the successful testing of the Galaxy S21 series maintenance mode in South Korea in July last year. Today is a global launch that will be phased out on select UI 5 models over the next few months. The launch will continue throughout 2023 and will expand to other Galaxy device models.