Smartphones have been linked to rising crime in New York and San Francisco thanks to their allure among thieves, and according to the FCC it’s getting even worse, with a new study finding 10% of all robberies now involve the theft of a smartphone.
For iPhone owners there is some good news though. The FCC says theft of iOS devices has been on the decline ever since Apple added Activation Lock in iOS 7. Thieves in San Francisco are reportedly passing up on the iPhone now that users have a kill switch, leading to a 38% decline in iPhone robberies.
iPhone thefts in New York City were also down 19% in the first five months of 2014, and in London they’ve dropped 24%. Android owners aren’t as lucky though.
In 2013 the FCC found 3.1 million Americans had their smartphones stolen, amounting to a 1.5 million increase from the 1.6 million mark set in 2012. After digging through the full 136-page report, Gizmodo found the following interesting facts:
- 22 percent of smartphone users installed software that can locate their phone
- 34 percent of smartphone users don’t take any security measures
- 36 percent of users set a screen lock with a 4-digit pin
- 46 percent of robberies in New York in 2013 involved a smartphone
- 59 percent of robberies in San Francisco in 2013 involved a smartphone
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, told a panel on Thursday that smartphone theft has become “a national problem” that needs a national solution. The FCC’s report asks the wireless industry to add better protections for consumers, like making smartphones less useful after they’re stolen.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
4 responses to “iPhone’s new kill switch cuts thefts dramatically”
“iPhone’s new kill switch cuts thefts dramatically”
It is not a “kill switch” and it is certainly not new.
It was new earlier this year, which is what the article is talking about. And it IS a kill switch in that the phone becomes unusable to a thief (except for spare parts).
Seriously dude, try reading the article first so there’s less chance of making yourself look like a moron.
I got robbed recently and had an iphone…I dont think robbers care about these features…untill they realize they cant use the phone. Phone hasnt connected to the internet since that day. Only thing I can think of is that they might know a hacker who somehow bypassed all these security measures. The article made it sound like that Apple could remotely brick the phone from all users. (I think they have that ability but dont want it to be known to the public)
“Only thing I can think of is that they might know a hacker who somehow bypassed all these security measures.”
You may read stories about hacking iPhones to run Linux or something else, but those are high tech toys for nerds, not something that can be sold in the black market. What they need is a complete iPhone with normal functionality, but there is no known means to do that so far, as long as you’ve up graded to iOS7 or 8. The only way to remove activation lock while keeping the iOS functionality, is to hack your iCloud account
You phone would be teared apart right now and they could use the components for repair services. Of course the value is drastically dropped in the black market comparing to a functional one.