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GooglePatent applicationSecurity & privacyInterest 6/10

Google patents device lock that checks if it is in the right hands

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

This filing describes a system where a device owner sets specific signal conditions, such as location or network details, before handing a computer to someone else. When the device wakes up, it compares its current signals to those saved parameters to decide if it is with the intended recipient. If the signals do not match, the device stays in a locked state with certain functions disabled.

Why it mattersIt offers a technical way to verify physical possession of a device during a handoff, which could help prevent theft or unauthorized use in shared or second-hand scenarios.

In the filing’s own words

Device-based anti-theft and recovery techniques for computing devices are disclosed herein. An example system includes one or more processors that execute instructions to receive, from a transferor that intends to convey the computing device to a transferee, one or more signal parameters that, if satisfied, permit the computing device to deactivate a protected mode of operation; activate, during a normal mode of operation, the protected mode, wherein the computing device disables one or more functions that are enabled during the normal mode of operation while the protected mode is activated; receive, during the protected mode, a user input from a potential transferee corresponding to a wake function of the computing device; and responsive to receiving the user input, determine, based on a comparison between one or more signals associated with the computing device and the one or more signal parameters, whether the computing device is in possession of the transferee.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a computing device and from a transferor that intends to convey the computing device to a transferee, one or more signal parameters that, if satisfied, permit the computing device to deactivate a protected mode of operation; activating, by the computing device and during a normal mode of operation, the protected mode, wherein the computing device disables one or more functions that are enabled during the normal mode of operation while the protected mode is activated; receiving, by the computing device and during the protected mode, a user input from a potential transferee, the user input corresponding to a wake function of the computing device; responsive to receiving the user input, determining, by the computing device and based on a comparison between one or more signals associated with the computing device and the one or more signal parameters, whether the computing device is in possession of the transferee; responsive to determining the computing device is in the possession of the transferee, deactivating, by the computing device, the protected mode of operation; and responsive to determining the computing device is not in the possession of the transferee, maintaining, by the computing device, the protected mode of operation.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
DEVICE-BASED ANTI-THEFT AND RECOVERY SYSTEM
Publication number
US20260300561A1
Application number
19091165
Filed
Mar 26, 2025
Published
Oct 1, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
20

Classified under

G06F 21/88 Physics & computingG06F 21/6218 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.