The mayor of London and its police commissioner have reportedly held a meeting with Apple and other smartphone makers, asking them to come up with deterrents to help tackle rising phone theft in the United Kingdom’s capital.
According to a press release from the Mayor of London’s office, the meeting involved representatives from Apple, Google, and Samsung, in addition to UK mobile carriers. London’s mayor Sadiq Khan was joined by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley for the convention that took place last Tuesday. The meeting came after Khan’s comments in August urging phone makers to come up with solutions to tackle phone theft.
Police data reveals a concerning trend with a growing criminal appetite for the latest gadgets. Over the past year alone, mobile phone robberies in London have surged by 28%. In total, there were 57,174 reported incidents of mobile phone theft, translating to an average of 157 mobile phones stolen daily in London.
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Khan and co argue that Apple and other phone makers are somehow complicit in the alarming theft figures, despite more than a decade of nationwide spending cuts that have directly affected the number of Met police officers and their ability to tackle crime. Not only that, but the official statement puts some blame on “the release of new more expensive mobile phones” in an egregious form of victim-blaming.
The statement further contends that despite the current security measures in place, such as PINs, fingerprints, and facial recognition, they appear to be ineffective at dissuading criminals from stealing mobile phones, which continue to be highly sought after and find a “lucrative market” in the underground criminal trade.
The meeting’s main objective was to identify new ways to prevent stolen phones from being erased and set up as new again, including blocking them from accessing services like the App Store and Google Play.
A number of proposed measures were discussed at the meeting, including:
- Enhancing the tracing of stolen phones’ locations
- Implementing measures to prevent stolen phones from being re-registered for services
- Investigating strategies to restrict the use of stolen devices outside the UK.
The meeting also reportedly discussed solutions to make it more difficult to harvest stolen phones for repair parts, a measure that Apple already incorporates through serialized components for authorized repairs. Common serialized parts on the iPhone include the battery, camera, and screen, with Apple constantly being criticized for its measures.
The UK has been embroiled in nonstop controversy when it comes to its attempt to govern and regulate tech. The biggest recent offender is the Online Safety Bill, which caused Apple to publicly threaten to pull iMessage from the country over message-scanning powers granted by the new regulation.
