If you’ve ever lost a smartphone, you’re well aware the cost to replace the hardware is the least of your worries. What resides on the phone — including private personal or corporate information — isn’t something you want falling into the wrong hands.

Locking a smartphone with a password or PIN isn’t enough. To really secure your device, you should take advantage of free services that let you remotely wipe the data from a lost or stolen phone.

You can also locate your device on a map to retrieve it — though if it’s stolen, you should give the information to the authorities rather than trying to handle it yourself.

There is a catch, however: You need to set up these free services before you lose it. Read more…