Three simple steps to stay safe online

Secure your phone, secure your Google account and take control of your data
& don’t forget to ask your friends #SecurityCheckKiya

Across Google, we build products with strong security protections at their core to continuously and automatically detect and protect you and your data from a wide range of threats. This Safer Internet Day ?, we want to remind users about the simple actions they can take to further strengthen their online security.
Secure Your Phone
If you’re an Android user, the safest place to download apps is from the Google Play store. Built into every device with Google Play, Google Play Protect protects your phone 24/7. It scans over 50 billion apps every single day, identifying potentially harmful apps and keeping them off your device or removing them. While Google Play Protect is the ideal security blanket for your mobile device, there are steps you too can take to help ensure your device is safe. Keep your screen locked with a unique password [pattern/ pin]. And if you add your Google account on your device, you’ll be able to find it if it’s lost or stolen. Simply visit android.com/find to locate, ring, lock and erase your Android devices—phones, tablets, and even watches.


Users should --
Keep screens locked with a unique password [pattern/ pin].


Add Google account on devices, to be able to find it, if lost or stolen.
Download Find My Device App -- The Find My Device app from Google helps you to easily locate a lost Android device, and keeps your device and information secure.


Visit android.com/find to locate, ring, lock and erase your Android devices—phones, tablets, and even watches.


Secure Your Data
We know that keeping your information safe and private is important to you, which is why we’ve baked security and privacy features into all our products. For example, we notify you when you’ve granted access to third-party sites or apps, but it’s really important for you to understand the information that you share with these apps or sites. A quick check on your phone tells you exactly what access  -- including Calendar, Camera, Contacts, Location, Microphone, etc. — you have shared with third party apps. So while you sip your morning coffee tomorrow, spend a minute to skim through app permissions on your phone, and choose the right settings for you.


Android users can --
On Phone, go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > Advanced > App Permissions


Secure Your Account
Just like in the physical world where you go for a regular health check-up, did you know you could do a health checkup of your Google Account? It gives you personalized and actionable security recommendations that help you strengthen the security of your Google Account. Taking the Security Checkup doesn’t just help you stay safer while using Google services, it also includes helpful tips to keep you safer across the web, such as by reminding you to add a screen lock to your mobile phone, reviewing third-party access to your Google Account data, and showing you what sites and apps you may have signed into using your Google Account.


Users can --
On desktop, go to Google Account > Run Security Check

On mobile, visit your Gmail App, tap Menu icon > Settings > tap ID > Manage Your Google Account > Run Security Check


Or simply visit g.co/securitycheckup to take the Security Checkup.


So this Safer Internet Day, don’t forget to ask yourself and your loved ones #SecurityCheckKiya [Have you done the Security Checkup yet?]


By Sunita Mohanty, Director, Trust & Safety, India