VMO2 and VodafoneThree are reportedly implementing technology designed to disable smartphones stolen from their retail stores. This move marks a concentrated effort from UK operators to tackle organised device theft and curb their resale.
Sources told the Financial Times (FT) once a handset reported stolen from a store is switched on, it is added to a manufacturer-operated database which automatically disables it. However, the technology only applies to unsold devices as operators cannot disable phones after ownership has transferred to the customer.
The move aims to reduce the resale value of stolen handsets following a string of organised retail thefts on operator stores and growing pressure on the industry to reduce the incentive for phone theft, which affected more than 71,000 people in London last year according to government data published in February.
VMO2 director of security Stuart Seymour told the publication the operator is “working with industry on innovative solutions” and with law enforcement “to gather intelligence and secure convictions”, adding the measures were “helping bring criminals to justice and making the high street safer for everyone”.
Earlier this month, Apple and the UK Metropolitan Police agreed a partnership to share stolen device identifiers, creating a joint intelligence network to track handsets and identify whether they re-enter circulation. Metropolitan Police commissioner Mark Rowley called on the UK government to introduce legislation requiring handset makers to publish data on stolen devices and make them unusable, adding, “if stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them”.
Apple has since reportedly agreed to automatically enable its Stolen Device Protection feature on iPhones sold in the UK, though it has stopped short of introducing a kill switch feature.
Rowley noted phone theft in central London had fallen 50%, adding early data from the collaboration with the iPhone-maker suggested “a significant number of stolen phones in a recent sample have not been successfully reactivated, significantly reducing their value to criminals”.
UK operator BT is not introducing the technology, added FT.
Source: Mobile World Live
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Source: Tahawul Tech