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Phone theft has been rife in London for over a decade, but Apple is planning on equipping iPhones with a ‘kill switch’ that will render them inoperable if stolen, effectively making them unsellable.
The Metropolitan Police has struggled to get a grip on phone theft for years, and as a London resident, I should know.
The capital has long had the unwanted reputation of being the world capital of phone theft, with a reported 200 devices being stolen every day. The black market of stolen phones in the UK is estimated to be worth more than £50 million a year, and there are literal warnings painted on the pavements in bright purple reminding residents to ‘mind the grab.’
Hoping to tackle the issue at its source, the Met has struck a deal with Apple to incorporate a ‘kill switch’ into its devices that will prevent them being reused or resold after a theft is reported.
The tech giant will also share data with the authorities to establish whether muggers have been able to reconnect any stolen devices prior to the update. It’s a multi-pronged deterrent effort that aims to curb any tangible incentive to steal phones while driving up risk for offenders.
‘For the first time, we are routinely sharing intelligence on stolen devices, building a joint picture of how these phones move and whether they reappear in circulation. That partnership is already making a difference,’ explained Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who recently travelled to Apple’s headquarters in Silicon Valley to have a ‘serious conversation.’
Apple is the first phone company to integrate anti-theft protection as a default feature, and it aims to put pressure on other major distributors like Samsung and Google to follow suit.
The ‘kill switch’ doesn’t instantly render a phone unusable, but it does prevent the device from being reactivated at any phone repair shop or even connecting to a network. Since escalating the issue, hundreds of arrests have been made and the Met is planning to commit even more resources in the future.
