What to do IF iPhone is lost?

Question

Keyword: IF. I still have my iPhone, this is all hypothetical.
I understand that there is no way to track an iPhone if it is lost, and that whoever finds it may easily swap SIM cards and reactivate.
My worries are about the info I have on my iPhone. Unless I leave the passcode on all the time (which is kind of a pain), I am worried about whoever finds it looking through my contacts, notes, emails, etc.. Call me paranoid but I don't want a stranger having access to my calendar and potentially knowing where I'm going to be every day for the next couple of months.
If I call AT&T and suspend service, I assume that whatever is already saved on the phone can still be accessed... but when someone tries to re-activate using a new SIM, does it wipe the iPhone memory clean?

Answer 1

If you use the passcode lock feature and enable the erase data option after 10 failed passcode attempts, and you don't use something easy to guess for your passcode such as 0000 or 1234, someone would have to be very good or very lucky to guess your 4 digit passcode within 10 attempts.
I venture to say the majority of low-lifes who would still your iPhone would not interested in any data on your iPhone. They are interested in getting something for nothing which they can activate themselves, and the only way to do that with a passcode locked iPhone without being able to guess the passcode within 10 attempts would be a restore with iTunes as a new iPhone - which would erase all data on the iPhone first. Or they are interested in selling the iPhone to someone else and then the same would apply to whoever purchased the iPhone.
The iPhone is a hot item so a good idea to keep close tabs on it. If someone really wants to steal something - from something inside your vehicle, in your house, or within a locker at school, etc., where there is a will, there is a way, but we should make it as difficult as possible. This is why we lock our vehicles, lock our house when we are away, keep a lock on a locker, and iPhone owners should use the iPhone's passcode lock feature and enable the erase data option after 10 failed passcode attempts. Is the iPhone's passcode lock feature foolproof? No, but better to not make the process of accessing any data on your iPhone an easy process. I don't keep any personal info on my iPhone that would be a major issue for me in the event my iPhone was lost or stolen even though I use the Passcode Lock feature (in effect after one minute of inactivity) with the erase data option enabled.