Can iPads be blacklisted?

ebixa82

Hi,
Can iPads be blacklisted in the same way iPhones can be?

If some scumbag robs my iPad is there anyway that it can be remotely locked like they do with stolen phones?

Thanks

GerardKeating

ebixa82 wrote: »

Hi,
Can iPads be blacklisted in the same way iPhones can be?

If some scumbag robs my iPad is there anyway that it can be remotely locked like they do with stolen phones?

Thanks

Certainly the 3G ones can be blacklisted from the Mobile networks, not sure about from iTunes etc..

ironclaw

Blacklisting is meaningless in this country in my experience. Plenty of iPhone's robbed daily and I don't see any slow down in the second hand market. They arn't all being exported.

Honestly, if you were a phone company, would you blacklist a phone (iPhone's use lots of data / texts) that has one of the largest potential income streams? Also if the phone is insured and the person is tied into a contract, no one loses out, at least from the phone companies point of view.

seamus

ironclaw wrote: »

Blacklisting is meaningless in this country in my experience. Plenty of iPhone's robbed daily and I don't see any slow down in the second hand market. They arn't all being exported.

There are three reasons for this:
1. Many people just say, "damn, my phone is gone" and go get a new one without bothering to try track it down or contact the phone company
2. The scumbag who robbed your phone doesn't care that it's been blacklisted and there is no shortage of people who see a bargain phone on adverts, buy it and then discover they can't use it
3. The biggest trade in stolen iPhones is into backstreet "fonefix" shops. They buy them for nothing, strip them down and use the parts.

I would blacklist a stolen phone if only out of spite, though my biggest priority would be remotely wiping it.

ironclaw

2. The scumbag who robbed your phone doesn't care that it's been blacklisted and there is no shortage of people who see a bargain phone on adverts, buy it and then discover they can't use it

True. But how many people has this ever happened to? I've never heard of anyone in Ireland. Which leads me to believe the phones arn't being blacklist out of laziness or generally not caring on the behalf of phone companies. The annoying thing is however that these phones companies could tell you exactly where the phone is AND who is using it. And they don't. If they did, phone theft would plummet.

I would blacklist a stolen phone if only out of spite, though my biggest priority would be remotely wiping it.

I wouldn't bother to blacklist but I would attempt to track. Having had a Wifi iPad stolen in the US, I can safely say iCloud & GadgetTrak failed to ever track it which I found strange. Thieves are wising up these days to instantly disable and wipe the device.

seamus

ironclaw wrote: »

True. But how many people has this ever happened to? I've never heard of anyone in Ireland.

Here's one from just five days ago:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83767343


It actually happens a surprisingly large amount of the time. What also happens is that Billy loses his phone, claims on his insurance, then finds his phone again and sells it on, delighted with himself. Of course Billy doesn't know that part of the claims process involves blacklisting the original phone, and the buyer gets burned.

The annoying thing is however that these phones companies could tell you exactly where the phone is AND who is using it. And they don't. If they did, phone theft would plummet.

You're right, though the triangulation isn't that simple. However there would be fairly huge legal issues around privacy and warrants, and controlling access to this functionality. It wouldn't be a simple case of ringing up customer care and saying, "I need you to trace IMEI no xxxx".

CathalDublin

ironclaw wrote: »

True. But how many people has this ever happened to? I've never heard of anyone in Ireland. Which leads me to believe the phones arn't being blacklist out of laziness or generally not caring on the behalf of phone companies.

There is a couple of threads on here a week with people who've bought blacklisted phones.
I fix phones for a living and I'm contacted daily by people with blacklisted phones.

ironclaw

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83767343

Missed that so I stand corrected. But whats to stop say an O2 Blacklisted phone from working on Vodafone? Has that been tested in an Irish context?

You're right, though the triangulation isn't that simple. However there would be fairly huge legal issues around privacy and warrants, and controlling access to this functionality. It wouldn't be a simple case of ringing up customer care and saying, "I need you to trace IMEI no xxxx".

Agreed about the data protection etc. But if a working group was formed with the Gardai and the telecoms, there actually would be a very high rate of success in my opinion. A stolen phone is, in my eyes, the same as stolen car. Someone paid a lot of money for it from their own pocket and has the right to a fair chance of retrieval. Technology has moved on enough for this to be a pretty painless operation. It could even be entirely automated:

Garda report made. IMEI sent to all telecoms. In use? Request Details. Not found? Kept on file for X number of months.

It would be a one man show with the current IT set up's available.

I can't quote the source as I can't remember where I read it, but isn't an iPhone constantly reporting its location (irregardless of iCloud etc) to Apple? For mapping, wifi mapping etc purposes? I'm pretty sure the case I read was something about the NYPD being able to request from Apple the location of any stolen iPhone. I was told by the SF PD that if my iPhone was stolen they could track it with just the IMEI or cell number.