Here’s how Android 15 blocks thieves from bypassing factory reset protection

If a thief snatches your phone from your hand and runs off, there isn’t much you can do to recover it. Once your phone is out of your hands, the first thing you should try to do is remotely lock it so the thief can’t get access to any of your data. If you manage to lock it, then the only thing the thief can do with your phone is try to sell it. Thankfully, Google made it difficult for thieves to factory reset Android devices in preparation for selling them, and in the latest Android 15 update, the company may have just made it basically impossible.

Android has a security mechanism called factory reset protection (FRP) that is activated when you first associate a Google account with your device. It kicks in when the device undergoes an untrusted factory reset, such as a factory reset triggered from recovery mode. This is because anyone can trigger a factory reset through recovery mode, even if they can’t unlock your device.