Next Week, AT&T Will Launch New Service To Block Stolen iPhones & iPads

Well, here’s a good idea that’s been a long time coming: AT&T is about to launch a new service that will make it easy for you to report and block your iPhone or iPad’s service if it has been stolen.

The Verge reports:

The company sent a message (pictured below) to customer service representatives on Wednesday advising them of the change. According to the guidance, AT&T will compile a “blocklist” of stolen devices and service will be automatically suspended “if any attempt is made to use a device that is stored in the blocklist.” The only way to add a device to the list will be by contacting a customer service representative directly, and users with remote data wipe apps will be required to activate them before suspending their device, to “prevent access to their personal information.”

This is a great idea. Find My iPhone and Find My Mac are great services, but this is a fantastic backup that should make any stolen iPhone or iPad on AT&T’s network thoroughly locked down: not just the device itself, but your data plan too.

Source: The Verge

John Brownlee

John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.