Samsung Helps Hide Your Data From Repair Shops

Privacy is a major concern to most of us, which is why Samsung’s Maintenance Mode may be considered a Godsend for some Android users. When enabled, it blocks access to your personal information like photos, messages and contacts. Its purpose is to safeguard your data on your phone when it’s sent in for repair, hence the name.

Maintenance Mode creates a temporary user account to access and operate the phone’s core functions but without leading to your private information. Though the phone will still let anyone download apps from the Play Store and Galaxy store, the owner’s installed apps won’t be accessible.

But if this isn’t enough to assure you that your data is safe, keep in mind that Samsung’s Knox security system locks down your data at the hardware level. It’s a multi-layered protection platform that uses a combination of hardware and software security safeguards to cover everything from the processor to your actual apps.

We’ve covered Samsung’s Knox security system extensively in a previous article. Click here to read it. In addition to this, Knox Vault isolates your most crucial information from the rest of the device. This makes it exponentially harder for anyone to use brute force attacks in an attempt to steal your data.

If you would like to enable Maintenance Mode, you can do so by accessing your Settings then select Battery and device care. Once this is done, you’ll need to reboot your phone to fully activate the feature. When said mode is disabled, the phone automatically deletes any data or user accounts that were created while it was enabled.

It’s good to know that manufacturers like Samsung are looking out for its users to help safeguard their data from prying eyes. Maintenance mode is being made available to select models that run on One UI 5. The roll out will happen in stages spanning several months and into 2023.