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Is carrying an iPhone worth the risk?

This content is 12 years old and may not reflect reality today nor the author’s current opinion. Please keep its age in mind as you read it.

Update: It appears that Apple have resolved the issue with the September launch of IOS 7, essentially by implementing what I suggested below (highlighted):

Find my iphone


Yesterday I was robbed of my brand new iPhone (S/N: DNPGQ4RDDTDM IMEI: 013032008785006 ) for the second time, in public, in Paris. While I’m still a little shaken, angry and disappointed, I’m glad everyone survived unscathed… this time (last time I was assaulted in the process).

These less fortunate victims of crime lost their lives over iPhones, in the course of a robbery, in trying to retrieve the stolen device and as an innocent bystander respectively:

The latter story (around this time last year), in which a 68 year old woman was pushed down a flight of stairs in a Chicago subway station by the fleeing thief only to die later of head injuries, is almost identical to a robbery in Paris in which a young woman also died of head injuries only weeks prior:

Paris police data from that period showed that 53 percent of 1,071 violent thefts on Paris public transport involved smartphones, and the last two models of iPhones accounted for almost 28 percent of items stolen on public transport. The Interior Minister was at the time seeking faster efforts to allow smartphone owners to “block” stolen phones, disabling calling functions to make them worthless in the resale market as a deterrent to theft. “It will be naturally much less attractive” to steal a phone that can be de-activated remotely, he noted, adding that “we have the technical means to deter thieves”. And yet the grey market for iPhones is obviously still alive and well some 18 months later, in no small part because the parties with the capability to solve the problem (carriers, manufacturers, etc.) lack the interest (stolen phones drive new sales).

This brings me to the point of this post — finding a technical solution to solve the problem once and for all. Indeed, if a smartphone can be “bricked” then its resale value is severely limited. Most efforts today involve blacklisting the IMEI number such that the phone cannot be used on the networks in that country, but this usually takes time as it has to be done securely (typically by the operator from which it was purchased, and only after receiving a police report — too bad for those of us who purchase outright from a retailer!). A few days is long enough for the thief to sell the phone, only to have the buyer find it stop working some time later, thus creating another victim of crime (albeit someone guilty of receiving stolen goods, and in doing so driving demand!). Unless the database is global (which gives rise to other problems including distributed trust, denial of service, duplicated IMEIs, equipment limitations, etc.) then the thief can just sell it into another market, especially here in Europe, or swap it.

Enter Apple, who already have (and heavily advertise) the capability to securely locate, message and wipe the device (should it be able to reach the Internet — too bad if you’re roaming and have data disabled, and care about security and have auto join networks disabled, as I did!). Their trivial restore process (which makes iPhones extremely, and I would argue unnecessarily, transferable) also apparently involves a handshake with Apple servers, so who better to “brick” stolen devices by preventing them from being restored until returned? This would make it essentially impossible for anyone but the legitimate owner of the device to make use of it, thereby destroying the market and going from the most attractive to least attractive smartphone for thieves overnight. Sure you could argue that it’s not their problem, but unlike the police they have the capability (and I would argue the interest) to put an end to it once and for all.

I for one will be seriously reconsidering the cost vs benefit of carrying a device that others value more than my own life, and I’m sure that the benefit of a “Remote Disable” function in competitive advantage would outstrip the profit from replacement of stolen devices, so it’s not just about doing the right thing.

Update: Brian Katz points out that the thief need only enter the wrong PIN 10 times and then the iPhone will factory reset itself (depending on settings), no need for iTunes restore!

P.S. Here’s some advice on protecting your iPhone as well as some tips for avoiding pickpockets in Paris from TripAdvisor and the US Embassy.