Find My iPhone Activation Lock in iOS 7 cant contact previous owner what else can i do?

In many places yes, they are. Which, in most cases will result in exactly squat other than a report being generated. They will not go out an hunt for your phone, and unless there was violence involved, they probably won't do much of anything else either. And since there is no central registry for stolen iPhones, your missing iPhone will end up as a piece of paper filed somewhere in a local police department.

I'm not saying people shouldn't report it. They should. I'd saying many people don't and that's one of the reasons.

killdevilfalls77 wrote:

Actually, the police are required to file a report on any stolen item

reported to them.

And actually, the person files a report. The police accept the report.

and If it's not reported, the police cannot accept a report.

Well as the old rule goes "Cop didn't see it, I didn't do it"... if it's not reported, it's not stolen, just misplaced. In either event, the lack of any report, or actually logging into iCloud and deactivating the device is neglect on the part of the owner, and thus their responsability. If you can't be bothered to lock down your missing phone, then you have no reason to complain when it gets sold and someone else activates it. The responsability of the owner is to keep track of their stuff... I learned that in Kindergarden...

Which has what to do with the topic of this thread, exactly?

I'd say quite a bit.

Activation Lock is touted as a feature to lower the risk of theft. All I've seen it do thus far is make poor people poorer by making their legally purchased devices unusable. While you Apple Fanboys may have these massive paychecks to cover your mobile device purchases... some of us (the disabled, the lower income level folks, you know the little people) use the secondary market as a great place to save a few dollars. And while that means very little to Cupertino and obviously even less to the stuck up fanboys I see posting in here, it does mean something to the consumer. And as I watch person after person dropping their iDevices for say an S5, or anything else, I see what you and Cupertino aren't seeing - people are finally tired of Apple's elitist business model. And this makes me happy.

This "any phone bought or sold on the secondary market is stolen" line is getting older and older by the month. We all know that isn't true, but god love you fanboys who stick by that argument.

Phone not reported stolen, and not deactivated using iCloud? Apple should indeed unlock those devices.

And what model iPhone did this replace?

What would have been better would be if you had waited six months and bought your S5 used. Since Samsung has introcuded the same system as Apple you would then have had the opportunity to go through the same thing with them and post on their site.

Funny thing about that.

Samsung's system doesn't require proof of purchase from a "Authorized Reseller"... curious... (A quick phone call will tell you what I already know - any proper proof of purchase from a legitimate business will be accepted, whether from the carrier, a pawn shop, a 2nd hand mobile device reseller... as long as it's a legitimate business...)

Next time compare apples to apples not apples to oranges... 🙂

killdevilfalls77 wrote:

Phone not reported stolen, and not deactivated using iCloud? Apple should indeed unlock those devices.

No they shouldn't.

As suggested above, most people don't report missing iPhones and don't deactivate using iCloud so Apple unlocking them why even have Activation Lock?

Caveat emptor.

Again I'll say, if the owner doesn't care it's their problem the device is gone. I know where every mobile device I own is, all of them have some sort of remote lock feature, and if any turned up missing, my first response would be to lock them down.

If the owner can't be bothered with that, then since everyone in this country is innocent until proven guilty (except in the case of a used iPhone apprently) the device should be unlocked for the next owner.

Didn't your mother's teach you to keep track of your stuff or you'd lose it?

What was your sample size you used to study whether Activation Lock has lowered theft of iOS devices or not? Or is this the ever popular sample of one?

Contact the NYPD, which has a unit dedicated to theft of small electronics, and see if they have noticed any reductions.

And given that the S5 has the same system, and Nokia will reportedly also, does that mean Samsung and them will also have an elitist business model?

Anyone here posting on what the police do actually ever work for the police? I did. Police will take reports on stolen iPhones (it is a theft over $500 in Texas) and while it is taken seriously unless the reporting person can provide some usable information it is not like they can immediately go out and find them. Some are recovered with Find My iPhone, more are as a case can be brought against a fence. But fences are now aware of Activation Lock and unless they have an overseas pipeline aren'te buying them.

But the system is a large bureaucracy. Apple is not tied into any system that they can officially check and see if the device is stolen and it takes time for items to be entered into various systems. If you are buying a used phone that was stolen two weeks ago it probably is not yet in NCIC and will not come back as stolen. Two weeks later it will, unless the phone was stolen in Asia and then sold here.

Apple does have an "elitist" business model, just like BMW, Mercedes, etc. And they are having record sales with that model. That isn't going to change. And Apple and Samsung are not going to change their policies regarding Activation Lock.

Owning both Samsung and Nokia devices, I can say that the "Authorized Reseller" part of Apple's policy is not the same as what Samsung and Nokia have done. The remote lockdown is there, but the ability to unlock the device is also present. So again - how is that the same as what Apple is doing?

killdevilfalls77 wrote:

Activation Lock is touted as a feature to lower the risk of theft. All I've seen it do thus far is make poor people poorer by making their legally purchased devices unusable.

Sorry. That's just plain wrong. If it was a "legitimate purchase" then the seller can remove the lock. If they can't or won't, they should give you your money back. If they refuse that, then the odds are VERY strong that the phone wasn't theirs to sell to begin with, meaning the purchase was not legitimate.

Fanboys may have these massive paychecks to cover your mobile device purchases... some of us (the disabled, the lower income level folks, you know the little people) use the secondary market as a great place to save a few dollars.

Have you ever heard of living within your means? An iPhone is not essential to life. If won't make you a better person. The lesson you should be learning here is that your own greed and ignorance are the problem here, not whether or not Apple will unlock the phone for you when you can't prove you own it (which you can NOT do).

This "any phone bought or sold on the secondary market is stolen" line is getting older and older by the month. We all know that isn't true, but god love you fanboys who stick by that argument.

I don't believe anyone here ever said that. What's been said is that if the seller can't release the lock, the probability that it is stolen is high. Why else would they not be able to release the lock?

Phone not reported stolen, and not deactivated using iCloud? Apple should indeed unlock those devices.

So when you form an international agency that will track every stolen iPhone on the planet, come back and whine some more. Until then, your argument just doesn't hold water.

killdevilfalls77 wrote:

Funny thing about that.

Samsung's system doesn't require proof of purchase from a "Authorized Reseller"... curious... (A quick phone call will tell you what I already know - any proper proof of purchase from a legitimate business will be accepted, whether from the carrier, a pawn shop, a 2nd hand mobile device reseller... as long as it's a legitimate business...)

Next time compare apples to apples not apples to oranges... 🙂

Which of course makes their "system" completely worthless.

Samsung just deployed their system on the S5 two weeks ago and Nokia hasn't implemented theirs so you have not dealt with their systems yet.

Funny, I just locked and unlocked my Nokia Lumia 10 minutes ago... since it hasn't been deployed yet, I wonder how that worked... strange.