Any way to track stolen iPhone 4 without having previously installed an app

Hope it helps.

lkjm

yeah like thats going to help any local law. 😁 I still think its BS they wont track it by the serial number! smh $500 bucks down the drain.

When someone "plugs it into iTunes to restore it as a new device", or just plugs it into itunes for any reason like updating the operating system in it, wouldn't that give Itunes not only the iphone serial or IMEI number to itunes but also give them the ISP address of the person that has it?????

Seems if someone got an iphone stolen, it should be easy for itunes to alert the victim or police of the ISP address of where it can be located. I think I even read somewhere how this is how the police recovered Steve Jobs stolen Iphone and arrested the person for burglary.

????

The short answer is "no".

iTunes on the computer it was connected to could read the IMEI, but how would that iTunes know the phone was stolen? Unless every copy of iTunes in the world "phoned home" and told a central database what iOS devices had been connected to it on a continuous basis, of course. Which would give new meaning to "privacy policy".

There's already a means to track stolen phones, and not just iPhones. The carriers know the IMEI of every phone in use, and could easily track stolen phones. But they don't. There was just a report about how the NYC police subpoena usage data from cell carriers for every stolen phone and enter the information into a database. Unfortunately, they index it by phone number, not IMEI, so if you port the number of your stolen phone to your replacement phone the police will be tracking the victim rather than the thief.. Showing they don't really understand the technology.

AlanAnderson146 wrote:

When someone "plugs it into iTunes to restore it as a new device", or just plugs it into itunes for any reason like updating the operating system in it, wouldn't that give Itunes not only the iphone serial or IMEI number to itunes but also give them the ISP address of the person that has it?????

Seems if someone got an iphone stolen, it should be easy for itunes to alert the victim or police of the ISP address of where it can be located. I think I even read somewhere how this is how the police recovered Steve Jobs stolen Iphone and arrested the person for burglary.

????

Just because it is technologically possible to do something does not make it legal to do so. Basically, a private company does not have the rights to do what you wish them to do without being ordered to do so by a court.

So sure, it could be done, if a court ordered it to be done, but otherwise, Apple has no rights to presume guilt of anyone or everyone connecting an iOS device to iTunes.

I had my iPhone stolen about two weeks ago. What more important is not the iPhone itself and not even your contacts book. What important is access to your email if your were using mail app or gmail app. I wrote a detailed story about what happened to me after my iPhone got stolen. Read and learn on others mistakes. Be ready to unexpected.

<Link Edited by Host>

flostik2008 wrote:

I had my iPhone stolen about two weeks ago. What more important is not the iPhone itself and not even your contacts book. What important is access to your email if your were using mail app or gmail app. I wrote a detailed story about what happened to me after my iPhone got stolen. Read and learn on others mistakes. Be ready to unexpected.

<Link Edited by Host>

So you GAVE your unsecured iphone to strangers, they stole your identity, and that is someone's fault other than your own?

Do you give your car and keys to strangers too, and then complain when your car ends up sold on Craig's list in another state?

Your problems are entirely a result of your own actions and were entirely and easily avoidable. Just don't hand over a device full of private and personal information to strangers, or anyone for that matter. AND secure your device with a passcode lock.

"Me: -I’m giving you my iPhone as a security deposit"

You really did this?

Yep, gave my iphone myself. And it wasn't protected.

Chances of being scamed this way are about 0.5% ( I had over 200 iPhones fixed and that was first negative experience).

Generaly, people who want their iPhone fixed not looking for scam somebody, so I rely on common sence.

But as a lesson - I now have a full protection including tracking apps and a password.

flostik2008 wrote:

Generaly, people who want their iPhone fixed not looking for scam somebody, so I rely on common sence.

Honestly, it is thinking like that which has allowed identity theft to become a $221 Billion a year global enterprise.

Generally, people who are of a mind to commit crimes do not advertise their intentions and rely heavily on the naivety of their victims.

You can report a stolen iPhone online free on

http://www.stolenlostfound.org/

I did and got my iPhone back!

hello i had my ipod in my backpack and then i checked for it a couple hours later and it was gone. I did not set up findmyiphone or findmyipod becasue i didnt know about it ti'll now, so i was wondering if there was another way to track my device without it being really expensive. This is my third ipod please help me im desperate

If you did not enable Find my iPhone (iPad) then there is no way to track it. Even if there you had enabled it there is no guarantee it would have helped.

To dear all,

I lost my iPhone 4 too... in Paris. And the police said the phone likely already on the way to eastern european countries or even in china...

and, i didn't register find my phone apps.

to correct most of the thread from above - iphone with passcode is required to protect data.

this is NOT correct. you don't need passcode at all to access your iphone data, photos, or any image/media at all.

a software can download free and enable the theft/ who stole the iphone to access the data even without a single try to guess the passcode.

So, if any of your iPhone is stolen - good luck to you all (and myself) - that the person is aim to re-sell the iphone istead of trying to look into your personal information / data / photos / videos / files / etc etc.

sorry to tell you the truth as I lost my phone too... just couple of weeks ago.