Turning OFF Stolen Device Protection on an iPhone SE

See the pic below, which is self-explanatory for turning off stolen device protection. Though the pic is for a Face ID device, Touch ID also follows the same sequence of operations.

Probably you have "Always" Ticked in place of "Away from Familiar Location"

For enhanced security, there's a one-hour delay when changing your location settings from "Always" to "Away from Familiar Location." This applies even if you use Face ID for authentication.



A delay will be required when you are not at a familiar location, such as your home or work, to change security settings.

Know more --> About Stolen Device Protection for iPhone

Simply adding a location to your contact card (e.g., marking it as "Home") does not automatically make it a "Familiar Location" in the context of iPhone's location-based learning and features.

Why Adding "Home" to the Contact Card Isn't Enough:

1. Trust and Validation: Adding an address to your contact card can be done manually or by anyone with access to your phone, but the iPhone uses activity-based learning to validate locations it deems "familiar."
2. Behavior-Based Learning: iPhones utilize machine learning and location tracking (if enabled) to recognize patterns of frequent visits. It identifies "Familiar Locations" based on where the phone spends significant time during specific periods, like overnight stays or long durations.

What You Can Do:

1. Spend Time at the Location: Use your iPhone at your new address consistently, especially during the hours you'd normally be home (e.g., evening and night). Over time, the iPhone will learn this as a familiar location.
2. Enable Location Services:
   1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and ensure it's turned on.
   2. Make sure "Significant Locations" (under System Services) is enabled. This helps the iPhone learn frequently visited locations.
3. Ensure GPS Accuracy: Poor GPS accuracy can delay location recognition. Make sure your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi, as this improves location precision indoors.

By doing this, the iPhone will naturally associate the address with your routines, and over time, it will classify it as a "Familiar Location."

1. Is this your corporate iPhone? Then please get in touch with the system administrator of your corporate
2. If it is your device, in that case, do you have any profile installed by your corporate/organization/enterprise/School Management? 
   1. Erase the profile added by you If you have installed a profile on your own --> Install or remove configuration profiles on iPhone - Apple ...
   2. Please contact the system administrator of the organization who provided the profile to you 
3. If you want to turn on SSL trust for that certificate, go to Settings > General > About > Certificate Trust Settings. Under "Enable full trust for root certificates," turn on trust for the certificate. Apple recommends deploying certificates via Apple Configurator or Mobile Device Management (MDM). --> Trust manually installed certificate profiles in iOS and iPadOS ...

With Stolen Device Protection enabled, knowing your Apple Account credentials or even your iPhone passcode is not enough to perform certain sensitive actions—including enabling or disabling Lost Mode. For these protected operations, the iPhone requires Face ID or Touch ID authentication, and your passcode cannot be used as a fallback.

If the iPhone is not legitimately yours, there is nothing you can do to bypass this protection. If it is your legitimate iPhone and Face ID is unavailable because of a damaged or faulty camera/TrueDepth system, have it properly repaired by an Apple Authorised Service Provider so that Face ID can be restored. Once Face ID is working again, you can authenticate and perform the protected actions normally.

1. Passcode Alone Isn't Enough: Even if someone knows your device passcode, they cannot use it to approve protected actions covered by Stolen Device Protection.
2. Biometric Verification Required: Sensitive operations—such as changing your Apple Account security settings, accessing saved passwords, disabling Lost Mode, or turning off Find My—require Face ID or Touch ID. Some changes may also require a Security Delay when you're away from familiar locations.
3. Enhanced Protection Against Theft: Only a Face ID or Touch ID enrolled on that iPhone can authorize these protected actions, helping prevent a thief from taking control of your device or Apple Account, even if they know your passcode.

In summary: Stolen Device Protection significantly strengthens your iPhone's security by requiring biometric authentication—and, in some cases, a Security Delay—for critical actions, making it much harder for someone who steals your iPhone to access your accounts or disable important security features.

See this user tip.

How to remove Stolen Device Protection af… - Apple Community