Imei tracking stolen iphone

thezaok wrote:

I really don't get it.. if the devices have an IMEI, if that IMEI is assigned to a iCloud account, if we have all this tracking and registration technologies and procedures.. how the **** cant we find our lost/stolen iPhones from the moment they connect to the internet ? Erased or not, they WILL connect to apple again, it's such a basic thing, can only be an option of Apple to not get us back our phones so we have/want to buy a new one....

What is lacking in your logic is the fact that Apple, as a publicly traded corporation, will not get involved with lost or stolen personal property at all. They do not record or track any information related to lost or stolen items. They have provided a system for users to track their own devices, but they have deliberately made that system so they are blind to it. It is entirely within the control of and responsibility of users.

See If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is lost or stolen - Apple Support and particularly (my bold emphasis):

"Find My iPhone is the only way that you can track or locate a lost or missing device. If Find My iPhone isn't enabled on your device before it goes missing, there is no other Apple service that can find, track, or otherwise flag your device for you."

So Apple does not know, and is not interested in knowing if anyone's private property is lost or stolen (or not). That is a law enforcement issue and no company would be willing to plunge into the legalities of acting on behalf of people to track, record or do anything else when it comes to private property. Amazon is not going to take your stolen kindle report and search for it for you, nor would Sony do it for your PS game console, nor Samsung for your Galaxy phone, nor any other company for the devices they make and/or market. Retail and OEM Corporations do not do that, and would inevitably find themselves in trouble over such services legally and in terms of privacy issues if they did.

Honestly, it's ridiculous IMO to expect any retailer or OEM corporation to act as your personal law enforcement agency or private investigator. Yes, a carrier can track a device approximately with an IMEI number, but they will only do so when approached by law enfocement officials with appropriate court orders to do so. There are boundaries on what is legal, as well as appropriate for corporations to doing with regard to people's personal property, and acting as the world's stolen smart phone cops is definitely not something they can do, nor should be doing.

these devices whether active or not can still be used on the internet, I don't understand why the imei number cant be used to track that device if the thief can still use it on the internet for gaming and other purposes.

lorettafromlithonia wrote:

these devices whether active or not can still be used on the internet, I don't understand why the imei number cant be used to track that device if the thief can still use it on the internet for gaming and other purposes.

You don't understand because you don't understand the technology of cellular systems.

The IMEI has nothing to do with the Internet. When you use cellular data or WiFi your IMEI is not transmitted anywhere. Your carrier knows approximately where a phone is from it's IMEI, but that's probably only within a mile of its actual location. And most carriers will not track a phone without a court order.

If it is being used on the Internet and Find my iPhone is enabled it can be tracked by iCloud ID to within about 10 meters. Why would you need the IMEI?

The police didn't track it through the IMEI number: it came into their posession (probably by finding stolen items when investigating a thief) and were able to identify it as yours by the IMEI number. I'm sorry to hear you've lost another phone, but actual tracking is not possible with only the IMEI number: it's just going to be a matter of luck whether the phone turns up and can be identified as yours.

Actually, it is possible to track any cellular device based on the IMEI. The carrier can do it. They require a court order to do so, however, and in a simple case of phone theft, most police departments will not pursue it, and most judges will not issue orders to track it if the police do pursue it.

You are undoubtedly correct though in that this probably did not happen. Unless the phone was suspected to be in the hands of a known terrorist, child molester, etc. it's not worth the effort for most police departments.

Yes. I think you are correct on that. From what I know. Aside from the SIM card, any GSM registers within a cellular network with its IMEI too. As I mentioned above I had my Nokia returned years ago by the police. They found it with a guy who bought it from a pawnshop by cross locating it through the IMEI. I don't see any reason for the police to lie about it but I can't be 100 sure. In my case I have an open case as it was a burglary with other items missing. I will let you know how it turns out if it is of interest to you. Thank you for the replies.

Ok. How did they locate it? It wasn't in a cart of stolen goods. They got it from a random guy (no criminal not anything). Anyway, from what you are saying it appears that first they got it and then they checked if the item was stolen. But I don't think that was the case. I am not a specialist its possible I am wrong.

Pawn shops are legally required to report the IMEI or other identifying information of anything the receive to the police in most states. And IMEI localization isn't that accurate; it can perhaps locate a phone to within a few blocks, not to a single shop.

The pawn shop recorded the IMEI # and reported it as they are required to do. The police cross referenced the list from the pawn shop with the list of stolen devices they had. They then got the name and address of the individual who purchased it from the pawn shop (because they are legally required to keep that information just for situations like this) and retrieved the stolen device from him.

There was no 'tracking' involved. As a rule, law enforcement won't track a device unless there is a felony involved.

No such laws here:) Now I do understand the misunderstanding. Btw, today I was at the p. Station. Once a week they send to the network carriers a list of IMEIs with cases such as mine. And yes being through the GPRS or the network itself they locate it. That is what I have been told...and before stating it is not possible I had one returned that way. It makes sense, they can do it in such a way. Oh well if they can't so be it:)

I really don't get it.. if the devices have an IMEI, if that IMEI is assigned to a iCloud account, if we have all this tracking and registration technologies and procedures.. how the **** cant we find our lost/stolen iPhones from the moment they connect to the internet ? Erased or not, they WILL connect to apple again, it's such a basic thing, can only be an option of Apple to not get us back our phones so we have/want to buy a new one....

if apple did any sort of tracking of IMEI numbers of equipment they sold(same would go for MAC address of computers netcards) they would be in 1000000 times the trouble of any iPhone thief, think electronic company spying and tracking customers and maybe even world leaders using that type of phone.

IMEI tracking of phones is a thing it has nothing to do with the manufacture of the phone

given the IMEI number the police can get a warrant and present it to the carrier of a country

and have them triangulate track phones using their cellular antennas, this is a very very expensive thing and mostly used for tracking lost individuals. if you feel confident the laws and expenses if your country would make the police make that expense then take it up with them. apple can't help you without breaking the law.

I'm sorry, it's all a beauty what you guys wrote, but still doesn't make any sense. Either you didn't get what I was saying or you just don't want to think for yourself.

Basically you're saying it is totally OK to have a tracking device on your iPhone, save Serial Number and IMEI on your iCloud account (yes KiltedTim, the IMEI is saved on the iCloud account under your Devices, you can check it) as long as you have it with you or it's turned on, connected to the internet, with YOUR data.
From the moment someone picks it up, turn it off and restore it (IMEI and Serial Number will NOT change) it's no longer your device, Apple no longer cares ? It's too much of a hassle for Apple to connect the dots and figure out that if I reported that device as stolen on my account it's probably because.. its was stoled and should not be used ? And if it is being used, I should be warned somehow ? People can send proof of purchase.

I'm not saying real-time tracking all the time, but if Apple indeed link the device to us like they make us believe, maybe people will be a little discouraged to steal these type of devices. With the technology available today is just ridiculous that this doesn't happen, no matter how you put it.

If someone steals your car, you report it, and they try to put it into the legal market again, a simple char validation on the license plate will say "look, this license plate is set as stolen, this car cannot be used" - this validation can be done by a 15yo programmer..

As long as it is linked to your iCloud account, activation lock will prevent anyone from using it. You can also blacklist it with your carrier (in the USA, all carriers use a federally mandated universal blacklist, which is honored by most or all Canadian and Mexican carriers as well).

The car analogy doesn't apply. Automobiles are a regulated consumer product requiring registration of all sales with a central government authority right from the moment a manufacturer sells it to a dealership, wholesaler or importer. Cell phones are not regulated and there is no government (nor legally required) registry of cell phone sales.

And just to play devil's advocate, why should any company "care" what happens to your personal property once you own it? There's no logical reason why any third party should care about your stuff, or go to the effort and expense of tracking it or monitoring it's ownership status or anything else about it.

"Registration" is the simple act of assigning something to someone, using a unique parameter as an identifier. This IS done by Apple, it doesn't necessarily needs to be done on the act of a sale.

There is no point in complicating it.. to do this it doesn't require nothing else than what's already being used by Apple or the device itself, it's just a matter of wanting or not wanting to do it. And clearly they prefer to have stolen devices to be passed around, so that people continue to buy new ones.. sad.

Regarding the care or no care from this or any other company.. thinking like that explains a lot why the world is like it is.

But never mind, it was just my two cents..