Apple working with British police to tackle iPhone theft

The head of London’s Metropolitan Police has described how the service is working with Apple to tackle iPhone theft.

The partnership includes sharing data with each other to measure the effectiveness of Apple’s anti-theft protections, with significant successes noted to date …

Apple has introduced a succession of measures intended to make iPhones a less attractive target to thieves. These include features like Activation Lock and Stolen Device Protection.

These measures are intended to make iPhones less valuable to thieves by preventing them being reactivated and sold, as well as making it harder for criminals to get access to the personal data stored on the phone and on iCloud.

In parallel, London’s police service has been carrying out a major crackdown on smartphone theft, including aggressive action against thieves who use e-bikes and scooters to snatch unlocked devices from people’s hands on the street. This included a change of policy, allowing “tactical contact” to be used by police cars to knock thieves off their bikes.

BBC News reports that the partnership between the two enables Apple to get real-world feedback on the effectiveness of its protections and to make improvements where needed.

The force revealed on Thursday that it had started sharing data with Apple to build a “global picture” of what happens to stolen handsets, including whether they are being reconnected to a network.

“If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them,” Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said.

One problem has been the development of illicit software to factory reset iPhones, bypassing Apple’s protections. Helped by data gleaned from the partnership, Apple has been able to block this software.

Illicit software enables phone snatchers to “factory reset” devices, which means they can be sold as if they are a new device on foreign markets. But…

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