Google’s been rolling out a setting to many Android devices that can make your phone’s IMEI — a unique, unchangeable number that identifies your individual device — accessible from the lock screen. This can potentially help you recover a lost or stolen device by providing easy proof of ownership, but because there are ways for bad actors to exploit an exposed IMEI, it’s also something of a security risk.
Making your device identifier accessible from the lock screen is optional, though. Here’s what you need to know, and how to change the relevant setting on your own phone.
