04-10-2012, 02:40 PM

US carriers agree to national stolen phone database

According to a Wall Street Journal report, four of the largest wireless carriers in the US are working with the US government to create a national stolen phone database. Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile will develop their own databases and then merge them into a centralized server within the next 18 months. Eventually, regional carriers will also participate in this initiative.

The database will help carriers and law enforcement track lost and stolen phones. Besides tracking phones, carriers have agreed to block both calling and data services for these blacklisted phones. This will be an easy task for Verizon and Sprint, but not so simple for T-Mobile and AT&T.

Verizon Wireless and Sprint already track each subscriber's phone using the phone's unique electronic serial number. This lets them easily block any phone that's been reported lost or stolen. AT&T and T-Mobile do not have a similar service in place, because their GSM phones use SIM cards. As long as you have a valid SIM card, you can use any phone, regardless of whether it is lost or stolen. These two GSM carriers are working on new technology that would let them track and block a phone using a unique ID.

US carriers agree to national stolen phone database originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.




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04-10-2012, 04:58 PM

I read stuff like this and I have to wonder about the costs involved. I mean, really, if the data on a phone is so insignificant that its owner hasn't password protected the device and set it to wipe memory after several failed entry attempts, then why should the carriers or law enforcement be spending time and money on new technologies to track these relatively cheap, easily replaced devices?

04-10-2012, 05:30 PM

Find my iPhone

04-11-2012, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Shikarnov

I read stuff like this and I have to wonder about the costs involved. I mean, really, if the data on a phone is so insignificant that its owner hasn't password protected the device and set it to wipe memory after several failed entry attempts, then why should the carriers or law enforcement be spending time and money on new technologies to track these relatively cheap, easily replaced devices?

As with most crimes, the issue is scale.

One stolen phone is one person's problem. But the more-organized thieves have figured out that smartphones are everywhere, easy to snatch and conceal, quick to turn over and very profitable. Lots of stolen phones mean increased costs for the carriers (you'll either claim it on insurance, demand a subsidized replacement, or cancel your very-profitable data plan and maybe pay a puny ETF.)

And the thieves don't donate their proceeds to the rotary club; they'll use them to fund other scams.

On the other hand, a database is a pretty cheap thing to put together, especially since the carriers all maintain databases of phones anyway.

Originally Posted by MYmacROX

Find my iPhone

...is great if your phone is lost, or stolen by someone who isn't serious, but useless if the thief turns the phone off quickly and wipes it clean. Which they quickly learn to do; see above.