Why can't the IMEI number be blocked worldwide after Iphone stolen?

lancs-lad wrote:

Dear Michael, forget the carrier I'm not interested in the carriers, I'm only talking about an Apple products , the carriers provide the airway for us to use with the aid of a phone , we bought an Apple phone and we would like Apple to assist us in preventing the stolen APPLE phone from being used on ANY network .

Regards

And again, how would Apple do this - legally. They have no rights at ALL to limit or interfer with a users access of a carriers network. Apple sells the product to someone, and that is the END of their legal obligation, and ability to control how it is used or by whom.

You say forget about the carriers, but the issue IS with the carriers. They have the ability to control access to their own networks - the only thing that is lacking in rendering cell phone theft a pointless act is the willingness of the networks to make stolen devices inoperative. FORGET about the device manufacturers - be they Apple, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Motorola or whomever. The carriers are the ones who could deal with the issue if they wished to. The device manufacturers have neither the means, nor the legal ability to do so.

In the USA, congress has begun to press the carriers to finally get together and shut down the use of reported stolen devices on their networks. While the process is proceeding at a snails pace, it supposedly is coming - there will hopefully soon come a day where you will file a police report (with proof of ownership necessary as part of that), then take the police report to your CARRIER who will then enable IMEI blocking of that device on all compatible networks in the USA. But it requires the CARRIERS to enable such a system - not one single device producer has anything at all to do with it.

Again, looking to Apple for help with this is like talking to your grocer when the power goes out and your cold storage food spoils - it completely misses the target of anyone who can possible help with the issue.

Find my iphone is pointless because even when you lock it, someone can turn it off... Just like if you have a pin code on your phone someone can still turn it off... If apple gave a **** about their customers, they would use security systems that work!!!! That would prevent phone theft.

I have also been victim to a similar incident where my stolen Iphone was "found" on another continent after it was stolen from me. I would not propose for Apple to interfere with any carriers (as rightly mentioned several times this is legally not possible) but the least I believe Apple should be able to do is log verified stolen Iphones and prevent them from accessing Itunes / Apps store - ie they could no longer receive the latest updates properly or download content & apps. This should be simple for customers who have lost or have had their Iphones stolen to do through their support profile where your registered products are listed with Apple by serial number and Itunes / Apps store is under Apple's control.

This may not help people get their phones back but may deter the actual theft of a phone because it would be pretty useless without messing around with the phone's software to update and install apps - of course there are work arounds but it would still require time, effort and money so if someone's determined enough to steal or have a stolen Iphone they would have to do more than just reset it. Just my 2 cents...

Apple DOES mark stolen iPhones as such. If you ever attempt to get a repair for a stolen iPhone you will be told that it has been reported stolen. But the iTunes store is not associated with a device, it is associated with an iTunes account. Once you purchase content via iTunes you can install it on any device you possess.

The carriers in the USA have recently established a registry of stolen IMEIs, and will not activate a phone on the list. But this is up to each carrier and each country, as already discussed.

Yes that is correct apple does not have the authority to block a device connecting to a phone network but they sure as **** do have the ability to prevent a device from being registered for the iTunes if they so choose. Each device has a serial number which is passed to iTunes when connected and also each person's support profile contains a list of devices. If someone steals your phone and registers it under their name, the device gets removed from your profile to be added into theirs. Apple could easily stop the registration of any stolen devices if they so choose, it is just that they do not want to.

To those using the "apple does not know who the rightful owner" argument, when you buy a device from apple, the support contract is between apple and the purchaser. If someone else buys the device, then the contract is between the original purchaser and the new purchaser and does not involve apple. So as far as apple is concern, they should accept any request to block the phone from iTunes from the original purchaser. Apple just conveniently turns a blind eye as it suites them financially. Its not about the customers, its about their bottom line.

You are responding to a 2 year old post and yet you are also out of date.

An iOS device does not pass on the serial number to the iTunes Store but Apple has come up with a different system called Activation Lock which is tied to the Apple ID for an iOS device. If the user has turned on Find My iPhone and then their iPhone is stolen the thief when trying to activate it will get a screen stating the phone is currently assigned to j******@gmail.com (or whatever) and ask for the password for that Apple ID. If the thief does not have the password it will not activate. If someone buys an iPhone on eBay that the previous owner did not remove Find My iPhone they will get the same message and will not be able to use the phone. This voluntary system has lowered thefts of iPhones in major cities by double digits.

I'm assuming if you got the "your iPhone has been found" message you had Find my iPhone enabled? Did you lock it or erase it? It's the smart thing to do.

Fine, whatever. But Samsung won't do any more to locate a lost or stolen product than Apple will, and in fact to the best of my knowledge provides no location service at all.

Your BMW analogy is not true.

Find my iPhone is NOT a "security system". It's there to help you recover your phone if you lose it. Not track it if it were stolen.