Why a repair shop asks for your passcode, and how to say no
The short answer
A repair does not need your passcode. Testing one does, because proving a screen, a camera or a fingerprint reader works means using the phone. You can withhold it, and we will tell you exactly which checks that leaves undone rather than quietly skipping them.
What can be tested without it
That is a real amount and it covers the majority of a screen repair. What it does not cover is everything behind the lock screen.
- That the phone powers on and the display lights
- That the screen shows an image and the backlight is even
- That touch registers on the lock screen and the keypad
- That it charges, and at the right rate
- That the buttons work
- That the earpiece works, by ringing it
What cannot
If those matter to you, and on a screen repair the biometric one usually does, the passcode is what makes them testable. If you would rather not, we will hand the phone back with those checks listed as not done, and you test them yourself before you leave the counter.
- Face unlock or fingerprint, which cannot be enrolled or tested from a lock screen
- The cameras, front and back, beyond the lock screen shortcut on some phones
- True Tone and adaptive brightness, which live in settings
- Multi-touch and typing across the whole keyboard
- Rotation, the ambient light sensor and the proximity sensor in a real call
- That an app which was misbehaving now behaves
What we do with it
It goes on the paper docket, in pen, and the docket is shredded when the job closes. It is never typed into our system, and there is deliberately no field for a device passcode anywhere in the customer database.
That is a design decision rather than a policy statement. A bench needs a passcode to test a repair; it belongs on a piece of paper that gets destroyed, not in a row that is backed up forever.
We look at what we need to verify the repair and nothing else. No photos, no messages, no accounts.
How to protect yourself, at any shop
- Back up firstNot because a repair touches storage, but because a phone that has been dropped has had its storage shaken.
- Change your passcode to a temporary oneSet something simple for the repair and change it back afterwards. It takes a minute and it costs nothing.
- Sign out of anything you would rather not have openBanking apps in particular. Most re-authenticate anyway.
- Ask what they will do with itA shop that cannot answer clearly is telling you something.
- Ask what cannot be tested if you say noAny decent shop will list it rather than shrug.
- Change it back when you collectAnd check the repaired function yourself at the counter.
Common questions.
Not to do the repair. To test it properly, usually yes, because proving a screen, camera or fingerprint reader works means using the phone. You can say no and we will tell you what that leaves untested.
It goes on the paper docket and the docket is shredded. It is never stored in our system; there is deliberately no field for it in the customer database.
We could and we do not. We look at what is needed to verify the repair and nothing else. If that is a concern, set a temporary passcode for the repair, which is a sensible precaution at any shop.
Then we test what can be tested from the lock screen, which is a fair amount, and we tell you exactly which checks are outstanding so you can do them at the counter before you leave.
No, and it destroys your data for nothing. A temporary passcode achieves the same protection in a minute.
Where this leads.
Next in locks and security.
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