Met chief urges law to force tech firms to kill stolen phones as thefts fall 18%

Six months after giving tech companies an ultimatum, the Metropolitan Police commissioner has gone further – asking the home secretary to introduce legislation forcing them to publish data on stolen devices and make handsets effectively unusable. Sir Mark Rowley revealed on Thursday that the force has started sharing data with Apple to build a global picture of what happens to stolen phones, including whether they are being reconnected to a network. ‘If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them,’ he said. Data is starting to show that the vast majority of phones stolen in recent weeks in London were not factory reset, after Apple ‘cracked’ what Rowley called an engineering problem that had allowed illicit software to wipe devices and resell them on foreign markets. Apple has turned on by default a setting called Stolen Device Protection (iOS 26.4) that delays thieves’ ability to change critical security information when a user is not at a familiar location like home or work – giving victims time to mark their iPhone as lost on another device. The Met has also entered into an intelligence sharing agreement with the company to better understand criminality and whether security upgrades need improving. Rowley told the BBC: ‘I'd never say we're going to get down to zero crime, but this is going to make a massive difference. If they can only be broken up for parts, if you start to make it harder for criminals, they will steal fewer of them.’ The commissioner’s call comes as police data shows phone-snatching incidents in London have fallen by 18% compared to the previous year. The Home Office has already announced it is taking ‘tough action’ by equipping police with new powers to search properties without a warrant where stolen goods have been electronically located. Rowley also warned that a polarised political debate was making policing a ‘political football’ – adding pressure on forces already grappling with phone theft and wider crime.