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zync

macrumors 68000
Sep 8, 2003
1,804
24
Tampa, FL
Here's a better question: what is the New York Attorney General doing to combat smart phone thefts in their state?

Instead of wasting effort writing useless letters to Apple and Google, why don't they prosecute some criminals?
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
Here's a better question: what is the New York Attorney General doing to combat smart phone thefts in their state?

Instead of wasting effort writing useless letters to Apple and Google, why don't they prosecute some criminals?

Because writing letters requires absolutely no effort yet still makes it look like they're actually doing something.
 

zync

macrumors 68000
Sep 8, 2003
1,804
24
Tampa, FL
Well, yes. It is all for political appearances. But that doesn't mean it isn't a waste of effort on behalf of the taxpayer.
 

michaelsviews

macrumors 65816
Sep 25, 2007
1,482
468
New England
The Greatest show on earth

Yep leave it to the empire state to go and have there AG send letters.

This will go NO where with Apple, and I do not blame them, you knew when you bought the device what its capabilities and limitations were still you bought it.

Now it gets stolen and you go whining your sissy ass off to the state and fed govt to help you and make them do this.

Either protect yourself and your device's along with accounts or stay out of the latest and greatest technologie's

Every thing does not have to have government interaction's
 

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,521
Yep leave it to the empire state to go and have there AG send letters.

This will go NO where with Apple, and I do not blame them, you knew when you bought the device what its capabilities and limitations were still you bought it.

Now it gets stolen and you go whining your sissy ass off to the state and fed govt to help you and make them do this.

Either protect yourself and your device's along with accounts or stay out of the latest and greatest technologie's

Every thing does not have to have government interaction's


I hear you bro. Asking manufacturers to use technology they already have to combat theft is a slippery slope to tyranny.
 

VulchR

macrumors 68040
Jun 8, 2009
3,401
14,286
Scotland
A lot of hostility here to the idea of improving phone security... I fail to understand it.
  1. I don't care if some politician is trying to score political points with this.
  2. I don't care if Apple or the carriers have any duty or responsibility to minimize theft, and whether or not they make money by selling phones is wholly irrelevant.
  3. I don't care if anti-theft measures can be defeated.

I do care that Apple on my phone company do not do all they reasonably can to decrease the likelihood that my phone is stolen. I do care that there are very few disincentives for stealing phones, particularly when rather obvious technical disincentives are available. I care about theft not because of some fuzzy left-wing ideology, but because I am a consumer who really does not like stealing, let alone losing personal property through theft. Apple can choose to react to consumer demand or not, and I can choose to buy their phone or not. I don't understand why Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia etc. haven't cottoned on to the fact that consumers generally want more security for their phones.
 

GoldenJoe

macrumors 6502
Apr 26, 2011
369
164
This is the dumbest statement ever. It's not their job but it is their responsibility to prevent people from using stolen merchandise.

I think you're giving yourself too much credit. It may not be the dumbest statement ever, but it was still a good effort.
 

BaldiMac

macrumors G3
Jan 24, 2008
8,795
10,933
A lot of hostility here to the idea of improving phone security... I fail to understand it.
  1. I don't care if some politician is trying to score political points with this.
  2. I don't care if Apple or the carriers have any duty or responsibility to minimize theft, and whether or not they make money by selling phones is wholly irrelevant.
  3. I don't care if anti-theft measures can be defeated.

I do care that Apple on my phone company do not do all they reasonably can to decrease the likelihood that my phone is stolen. I do care that there are very few disincentives for stealing phones, particularly when rather obvious technical disincentives are available. I care about theft not because of some fuzzy left-wing ideology, but because I am a consumer who really does not like stealing, let alone losing personal property through theft. Apple can choose to react to consumer demand or not, and I can choose to buy their phone or not. I don't understand why Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia etc. haven't cottoned on to the fact that consumers generally want more security for their phones.

Because security need to be balanced with privacy, property rights, and other rights of the individual. Sometimes the "obvious" solution has unintended consequences.
 

7enderbender

macrumors 6502a
May 11, 2012
513
12
North East US
1. It's not a manufacturer's responsibility to prevent device theft.
2. iPhone already has remote wipe capability (if you choose to use it).
3. iPhone already has device tracking (if you choose to use it).

Apple should tell NY to fck off.


I agree. And companies like Apple should become much more aggressive about it. How about this? If NY moves forward with anything remotely like this we're going to shut down all New York Apple stores, fire the employees and stop the sale of Apple devices in all of New York state. Let's see what that does.

Same with google. Did you see the federal court decision in Germany today about the autofill feature? Google should shut down the google.de domain tomorrow and let the German nanny state build their own search engines.

I work for a large healthcare provider - pretty much the only game in town and in the region. Instead of helping the Obama government figuring out Obama care we should've told them that we're not accepting Medicare patients any longer. Sorry, cash only business from here on.

Instead everyone is ***** footing around. Everyone is complaining about "corporate power" - but it doesn't get used really. Not even when it's to protect people and consumers from stupid government intervention.
 

JAT

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2001
6,473
124
Mpls, MN
This is beyond ridiculous, but OK, I'll bite.

Mr. Atty. General, allow me to carry a gun and I'll shoot the next MF'er who tries to steal my iPhone. You'll see iPhone thefts plummet in no time. No? You don't like that answer? Neither do I. How's this, fire all those crooked politicians in Albany (if you follow NY news you know what I'm talking about) and let's get a decent gov't that aims to protect the public's safety AND economy by doing all it can to ensure people have jobs and make a living wage! In short, do your ********** job!

Does democracy work different in New York?
 

SmileyBlast!

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2011
654
43
Nope, they just sell it to one of those Chinese knockoff companies who can now use real Apple parts etc

It's still a lot more labor intensive to do that which takes a lot of the profit out of the deal and they can go on to stealing something more profitable. Beside if whole lot of iPhones are converging on a point on a map before they go dark for good that really narrows the search area for the police like Interpol.
 

charlituna

macrumors G3
Jun 11, 2008
9,636
816
Los Angeles, CA
It's still a lot more labor intensive to do that which takes a lot of the profit out of the deal and they can go on to stealing something more profitable. Beside if whole lot of iPhones are converging on a point on a map before they go dark for good that really narrows the search area for the police like Interpol.

Not all that labor intensive or costly. Particularly when it cost the, little or nothing and then they take the cheap half fake into an Apple Store to try to get a warranty replacement (and if they pick the right store at a busy time, often pull that stunt off)

And they 'go dark' as soon as they are grabbed so folks have no chance to use find my iPhone. Takes two easy to get screwdrivers to open a phone and disconnect a battery if nothing else works (like removing the SIM card to take it off line)
 
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KdParker

macrumors 601
Oct 1, 2010
4,793
998
Everywhere
Most cars are not Internet connected. The ones that are (Onstar, etc) DO have kill switches, and their recovery rates are far higher. Which is reflected in the discount you get on insurance if you have a car with that feature.

Again....They are not required. Whether there are benefits or not, the state shouldn't be able to mandate it.

----------

Because the car manufacturers have adopted other measures that are effective deterrents of theft.

The phone manufacturers are creating a public nuisance if their product is the primary driver of theft and violence and the manufacturers could easily do something about it but choose to do nothing.

That is only if they are used.

And again....the state didn't mandate that these other 'effective deterrents' be added.

----------

But cars do not call home or connect back to any services.
But a stolen car can not be sold to a dealer ship or have a title transfer as the vin number is flag.
Hell take it in to be services and it will get flagged and reported very quickly.

Also car manufactures have been making it harder and harder to hot wire a car. If you lack a key it is getting near impossible to start and drive a car as with out having the chipped key it cuts all power to fuel pump starter and other parts.

Cars have been stepping up the game for years.

ok...that is a good thing. And how long did it take for cars to 'step up their game'?

Decades, but my point is simply that the State shouldn't be allowed to force phone manufacturers to implement a mandated kill switch.
 

VulchR

macrumors 68040
Jun 8, 2009
3,401
14,286
Scotland
Because security need to be balanced with privacy, property rights, and other rights of the individual. Sometimes the "obvious" solution has unintended consequences.

Namely? I do no see how increased security harms privacy, property rights, or any other right. Security measures have dramatically reduced car theft, but these measures do not violate anybody's rights. In any case, all I am saying is that as a consumer I would like to see better security measures.
 

BaldiMac

macrumors G3
Jan 24, 2008
8,795
10,933
Namely? I do no see how increased security harms privacy, property rights, or any other right.

That's my point. You (or I) don't see all the potential consequences. Increased support costs. Potential for abuse. Privacy issues with a permanent identifier. Property rights involved with the ability of a corporation to permanently disable your phone remotely. Government involvement in disabling your phone.

Security measures have dramatically reduced car theft, but these measures do not violate anybody's rights.

As pointed out earlier, the most common auto security is designed to prevent car theft. And it's in the control of the owner of the car. Not much can prevent the theft of a smartphone short of a physical tether.

Remote security such as LoJack or OnStar are additional services offered to owners that they can choose to enable. Much like Find my iPhone. And like Find my iPhone, they are useless if the thief disables the signal.

In any case, all I am saying is that as a consumer I would like to see better security measures.

Sure. Completely reasonable. But the solution is hardly obvious.
 

Death-T

macrumors regular
May 18, 2012
125
0
Savannah, Georgia
Why is it Apple's job to make sure their phones aren't stolen after they've been sold to a customer? Once those products leave store shelves, they're out there in the real world and they shouldn't be expected to do too much about it. =/
 

glocke12

macrumors 6502a
Jan 7, 2008
999
6
Maybe NYC should concentrate on catching and locking these criminals up as opposed to blaming the manufacturer.
 

John.B

macrumors 601
Jan 15, 2008
4,193
705
Holocene Epoch
Yes you are right. A blacklist is not good enough. The phone need to be remotely disabled. One reported, the ONLY thing the phone can do is display a message "This phone has been permanently disabled."

No their could sell a phone with a display like that. The feature would have to be built into "write once" ROM that could never be reprogrammed. This kind os ROM is actually the lowest cost ROM.

Wait 'til someone "permanently disables" your phone as a prank, then get back to us.
 

Mactendo

macrumors 68000
Oct 3, 2012
1,967
2,045
It's called unequal income distribution. It is easy to find two people where one has 10X the income of the other. Historically when this is common we see revolutions. It is a credit to our democratic government system that we see only political arguments.

Not sure if this credit is positive, but there're countries with pretty similar income distribution. Singapore, New Zealand, Portugal, Israel. But such ****** doesn't happen there. Shooting on a subway in Israel? No. For a phone? No. Crime rate in Singapore as high as in US? No. Revolutions? No.
 

Earendil

macrumors 68000
Oct 27, 2003
1,567
25
Washington
Not sure if this credit is positive, but there're countries with pretty similar income distribution. Singapore, New Zealand, Portugal, Israel. But such ****** doesn't happen there. Shooting on a subway in Israel? No. For a phone? No. Crime rate in Singapore as high as in US? No. Revolutions? No.

I'm honestly curious about the source for your information. Do you have it?
 
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