by Maureen Cutajar

Created on: December 14, 2010   Last Updated: December 15, 2010

As iPhone owners are aware the iPhone 4 does not come pre-configured with a password. Some users find that the iPhone lacks privacy since it tells everyone who ventures to glance at its lock screen how to unlock the phone and access all your private data.

Considering that typical iPhone users do not only have their phone books and their SMS stored on their phone but they also have open access to their personal and work emails, calendar appointments, and all their contacts this lack of privacy can be quite a concern to some users. However, do not fret as you can easily protect your iPhone data by setting a password to your lock screen.

How to set up a Password for the iPhone 4

To set a password for your iPhone 4 and keep away prying eyes follow these simple steps:

1. Go to Settings which is by default located on the iPhone 4 Home Screen.

2. From the Settings Menu locate the General Menu.

3. Scroll Down the General Menu until you find the item Passcode Lock.

4. In the Passcode Lock Screen tap Turn Passcode On.

5. At this point iPhone will prompt you to enter your new Passcode Lock.

6. By default the Passcode is a 4-digit password. You can therefore proceed to enter your 4-digit password and confirm the code by re-entering the same passcode you provided.

This completes the setting up of a password for the iPhone 4 to ensure that your data is adequately protected. You can now tune the characteristics of your Passcode Lock according to your preferences. The following passcode options are all available to iPhone 4 users:

1. Require Passcode: This option determines when iPhone will prompt the user to enter the password created. You can set the iPhone to request the passcode every single time that the phone is unlocked by setting this setting to Immediately, otherwise you can specify the passcode to be enforced after the iPhone has been idle for a specified amount of time between 1 minute to 4 hours.

2. Simple Passcode: The Simple Passcode refers to the default 4-digit password. If you want a more complex password turn this option off. At this point iPhone will prompt you to enter your old password before it allows you to enter you new complex password.

3. Erase Data: The Erase Data option allows the iPhone to erase all data stored on the phone after 10 failed passcode attempts. Use this option at your own risk. While it does protect your data if your phone unfortunately falls in the wrong hands this option will completely erase all your data even if your kids/friends/boyfriend are attempting to crack your password for fun!

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