London Metropolitan Police report a dramatic reduction in smartphone thefts in the past year after establishing a close partnership with tech giant Apple, which devised a way of rendering the stolen devices unsellable.
Apple rigorously analysed the real-world effectiveness of its anti-theft systems such as Activation Lock and Stolen Device Protection and shared these insights directly with the London police force.
The shared objective was to ensure that once a smartphone is stolen it cannot be factory reset for resale, effectively rendering the black-market value of the device completely worthless.
In recent weeks, Apple successfully developed methods to block illegal software used by criminals to bypass and factory reset devices. This technical breakthrough, combined with aggressive enforcement by London police, reduced phone robberies across London by 14,000 year-on-year. In central districts like Westminster, phone snatches and pickpocketing plummeted 45.8%.
The success of this operation closely aligns with recent reports regarding Apple’s forthcoming anti-snatch features. It is highly probable this law enforcement collaboration will help the company fine-tune and perfect its security measures, but it remains to be seen when Apple will officially roll out this upgraded anti-theft system to global users.
