FRP – What is it, and how it affects buying and selling used phones

  • FRP – What is it, and how it affects buying and selling used phones

    FRP – What is it, and how it affects buying and selling used phones

    What is FRP anyway?

    FRP stands for Factory Reset Protection. It is a security means to prevent a stolen phone from being used by anyone even after the phone is “factory reset”. It is usually paired with additional security features such as “find my phone”, play sound, and lock & erase device. These features allow you to locate you lost or stolen device, or even lock and factory reset your device remotely to prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands.

    Even though you have done a factory reset, it won’t be usable for who you sell or give it to.

    You Can’t Just Reset and Hand-off a Phone Now.

    In the past phones that were stolen could simply be cleared of all data and then be re-sold as a used phone without any repercussions. This, however, is a thing of the past as almost every phone has some form of FRP provided by the OS and possibly also included by the phone manufacturer as well. Apple started its version of FRP, more readily know as Activation Lock with IOS 7. Android followed suit with adding FRP features to all android phones through your google account on Lollipop. Manufacturers such as Samsung and LG also have their own flavor of FRP added on to android, so now you have a choice to use your Samsung, LG(McAffee) or Google account to lock your device down?

    To properly reset your phone, you have to factory reset your phone through the phones settings menu. You will be asked to verify you lock screen password and then just before you can finalize the factory reset you will be asked to put in your password for the account you used to set up FRP. By typing in your password you are removing FRP from the device just before a factory reset. It is important to do this before you try to sell or even trade in your phone with your service provider as even they do not have a way to remove FRP from your device.

    What Happens When you Get A FRP Locked Phone?

    The FRP will require you to login to the phone with your username and password so if you send it somewhere (to be sold for example) you will need to help that person with the phone by giving them this sensitive info.  Users try to hack around and bypass this but with each update the locking methods will only become stronger. So be sure to remove FRP before selling a phone, and be sure to set it up if you haven’t already. It is a fantastic way to protect your data from falling into the wrong hands.