Component traceability database for stolen iPhones (and other products)

Hello,

3 years ago I had my phone stolen out of my pocket.

Luckly: it was an iPhone 11 bought in the Apple Store, we never entered my phone number in the contact message, and I live in Germany.

So, in the following months my friend received several messages from "Apple" that they found my iPhone, and I needed to login into iCloud from their link. Which obviously was suspect since real Apple has my real phone number. After a year the Police contacted us because they found a gang with 100+ iPhones, and we got it back, as it was.

Let's forget for a moment the implications of accessing my phone and my keychain.

If they never accessed the phone, it would eventually have landed in some backroom, where it would be separated into many component parts for reselling. All Apple originals. All in perfect condition. Maybe mixed with parts coming from legitimally discarded phones.

Component traceability is part of quality productions standards and Apple surely must have it already implemented in some level.

Can Apple support we as consumers of a global market with a component traceability database that can:

. be used by victims to report the loss of a phone,

. be used by telecommunication companies to prevent the activation of a stolen phone (or with a stolen component therein),

. be used by police to separate legitimate phones and components from stolen ones, and trace criminals across borders,

. be used by users to check the status of their phones after repairs or buying an used one, and

. be used by the industry in general to detect fake/relabelled components.

Even better, Apple as leader could team up with other phone manufacturers and make it a standard across the market, with an original quality seal.

Please Apple? We count on you.

Best regards,

Eloi