Although not quite as extreme, my area does mandate by law that ignition immobilizers be present on certain models of cars.
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Government Officials Bring in Security Experts to Test iOS 7's Activation Lock Feature
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Doubt the average thief would have the technical skill to crack it that would make a petty theft like iphone worth it.
The Government has a significant interest in this because smartphone thefts are now one of the leading calls for police service in big cities. If an iPhone can be bricked then it cannot be sold. If it cannot be sold, there is no desire to steal it. This would reduce crime= better for the community.
I think activation lock is going to backfire, in that a lot of people who are legitimately trying to sell or pass on their iDevices won't know to disable the activation lock before doing so, and a lot of new owners who legitimately bought or was gifted used iDevices are going to get stuck with bricked devices. Genius bars, Apple Care, Apple Support Forum, and user forums like this one are going to be flooded with calls of "Help! My newly bought/gifted used iDevice is asking me for a password. What do I do???"
That's funny because I don't think I would unless it showed up on iCloud and I could tell them exactly where it was. For as much as I pay for the government to spy on me is kind of ridiculous if I wouldn't call. That's the ****ing least they could do...
No, you mean they are not Texas.
You describe a police state where people are killed for stealing a mobile phone.
If someone steals my iphone, i would not want the person dead its a phone..
That's a great 1st half of the solution.
The other half would be to continue to ping the GPS location to the Apple ID that was used to deactivate it until they find and reactivate it.
Some of you need to watch a little less network news.
The other half would be to continue to ping the GPS location to the Apple ID that was used to deactivate it until they find and reactivate it.
Some of you need to watch a little less network news.
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This already happens with Sprint/Verizon to a degree. Any Sprint phone can be marked as lost/stolen, and then sold to an uninformed buyer off craigslist. The buyer won't be able to activate that phone (they can however flash it to Cricket or some other CDMA MVNO). This definitely makes stealing CDMA devices less lucrative than GSM devices.
Smart Sprint/Verizon phone buyers always check to make sure the ESN is clear before buying phones offhand. I imagine the rest of us will smarten up and check before buying an iCloud locked iPhone.
I hadn't thought of this. Surely they considered this when they developed Activation Lock.
So if I were going to sell an iPhone with iOS 7 on it, what's the process? Would I wipe the phone, then put my Apple account credentials into the Activation Lock screen after the phone reboots the first time after it's wiped, and then just power the phone off, put it in the box, and it's ready to sell?
Absolute Confidence
"New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón will today test how Apples Activation Lock feature holds up against determined thieves"
Well, I'm sure glad they found two "determined thieves".
"New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón will today test how Apples Activation Lock feature holds up against determined thieves"
Well, I'm sure glad they found two "determined thieves".
For those that are getting their devices from someone they know, it is easy track down the owners to unlock the devices. For others that bought devices from strangers (e.g., off craiglist), yes, they are out of luck. But reality is, they may actually be buying stolen goods anyway. It will take a couple months of out-cry from these "victims" to educate the masses. In time, everyone will learn not to buy a device unless they can activate it on the spot.
In fact, this would be better than so-called "kill-switch". I would be able to know whether the device is activation locked or not when I buy a used phone, and not having to worry about someone activating a "kill-switch" on me down the road.
They seem to think a permanent kill is more effective. No doubt that is what they will be testing.
Kill switch
I can't see a kill switch ever working as it is to easy to block the signal. Then the thief could sell/reprogram the phones at will. Also the phones value is so high that even a $ 100 investment per stolen phone would still leave a profit for the criminal. There is no simple solution. There are simply too many skilled people working against the system.
I can't see a kill switch ever working as it is to easy to block the signal. Then the thief could sell/reprogram the phones at will. Also the phones value is so high that even a $ 100 investment per stolen phone would still leave a profit for the criminal. There is no simple solution. There are simply too many skilled people working against the system.
Yes.
There are techniques that depend on strong encryption of everything, including the routing information. It can be done.
You only need to first deactivate the Find-my-phone feature before wiping.
To be sure, after you wipe, get the buyer to start setting up the phone before you take off with the money.
Could have swore that someone has to remotely mark their phone as a stolen device for the phone to be locked to one iTunes account. It's not every time you activate it, only after a theft.
these local and state governments think they can pass legislation or have a say in the way these devices sold all over the world operate? do these polititians have any sense? people steal phones so they go out and blame the phone manufacturers. 'what are you gonna do about our crime problem?'
block what signal, how? The average thief doesn't kno **** about blocking any signals.
This is my point - they made the statement when they just *think* kill switch is better, BEFORE they look into how activation lock works.
Think about it this way, no one (at least publicly) is able to carrier unlock the newer iPhones for a long time. The activation lock is based on the same idea, that iPhone must directly get the OK from Apple server to activate. I am therefore very confident that those jokers won't be able to by-pass it easily.
Yes.... people have been able to get some insiders to whitelist locked phones via carriers. But activation lock is different, only Apple can whitelist.
Yeah, I don't think they get that this IS a kill switch. If we actually had a kill switch that completely deactivated your phone without any possibility of getting it back, then can you imagine how mad you'd be if you thought someone stole your phone, you kill it, then a week later you find it had fallen behind the couch with the battery dead. would be ******. At least activation lock has the slight possibility of getting it back to the owner, or as a deterrent in the first place.
This is very definitely their job. They buy a lot of iPhones. They want them secure. If this works, it takes away a lot of the attractiveness of iPhones as something you can steal and fence. Don't worry, Libertarians. They're farming out the attempt to bypass it to honest and brave Ed Snowden contractors.
It is because of this that I vote for a kill switch that makes the iPhone nice shiny brick.