Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has called on tech companies to make stolen phones impossible to reactivate, warning that the devices are being illegally factory reset and sold on foreign markets as new.
In a move that he says could “take profit out of criminal business,” Rowley has asked the home secretary to introduce legislation forcing phone manufacturers to publish data on stolen devices and enforce measures rendering handsets effectively unusable. The appeal came as the Met revealed that phone-snatching incidents in London have fallen 18% compared with the previous year.
“Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley urges legislation to make stolen phones unusable, as thefts fall 18%.”
“If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them,” Sir Mark told the BBC. He said current illicit software allows phone snatchers to factory reset devices, enabling them to be resold abroad. But he added that Apple believes it has “cracked” the engineering problem, and data now shows that “the vast majority of phones” stolen recently in the capital were not factory reset.
The Met has already started sharing data with Apple to build a “global picture” of what happens to stolen handsets, including whether they are reconnected to a network. Sir Mark said only a minority of stolen phones were now being reactivated compared with a few months ago, making it “harder for criminals to profit.”
Apple recently turned on its Stolen Device Protection setting by default in an iOS update (26.4). The setting delays thieves’ ability to change passwords or biometric information unless the phone recognises a familiar location, giving the owner time to mark the device as lost on another device.
The force has also entered an “intelligence sharing agreement” with Apple to better understand criminality in London and assess whether security upgrades need improving.
The government is taking “tough action” on phone theft, a Home Office spokesperson said, including “equipping police with new powers to search properties without a warrant where stolen goods have been electronically located.”
Sir Mark acknowledged the challenge: “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.”