Samsung launches ‘Maintenence Mode’ to protect personal data

When we send our mobile phone to the repair center for repair, the repair technician can easily see the personal data in our mobile phone, such as text messages, contacts, photos, videos, etc. In 2021 an Apple technician surreptitiously downloaded a private photo from a user’s phone and posted it on Facebook, and the user sued Apple, which eventually paid millions of dollars.

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Samsung is trying to avoid that risk by introducing a “Maintenance Mode,” which allows users to block access to their personal information when sending a device in for repair.

To enter service mode, turn it on in Settings > Battery & device service, after which the phone will restart. Rebooting creates a separate account on the phone for technicians to use when repairing the phone, preventing them from accessing the user’s personal data.

When the phone is repaired, the user can exit the maintenance mode through pattern/fingerprint recognition. After the user exits the maintenance mode, the data and accounts created in the maintenance mode will be automatically deleted, and the applications downloaded in the maintenance mode will also be deleted.

Moreover, the repair mode was successfully tested on the Galaxy S21 series mobile phones in South Korea in July. The feature rolls out globally, and gradually rolls out to select models running One UI 5 over the next few months until 2023, with more devices after that.

(via)