Have you ever lost your iPhone or had it stolen? It’s a real horrid feeling and really what can you do? File a police report? Have the service disconnected? Wipe it clean with Find My iPhone? What if you could call your carrier and have the device blacklisted. Soon you’ll be able to with AT&T…
The new service reportedly rolling out in a week, will allow AT&T subscribers to call in and report it stolen. From there a permanent ban will be placed on the iPhone/iPad preventing its activation on the network at a later time.
The Verge has the story:
The company sent a message (pictured below) to customer service representatives on Wednesday advising them of the change. According to the guidance, AT&T will compile a “blocklist” of stolen devices and service will be automatically suspended “if any attempt is made to use a device that is stored in the blocklist.” The only way to add a device to the list will be by contacting a customer service representative directly, and users with remote data wipe apps will be required to activate them before suspending their device, to “prevent access to their personal information.”
I think it’s a great solution to really “stick-it-to” the thieves who stole an iPhone or iPad. They’re basically left with a fancy paperweight. Sure unlocking is possible, but do you think many criminals know a whole lot about jailbreaking / unlocking their stolen iPhones?
This should be a nice feature.
Source: The Verge via MacRumors
