Theft of iOS devices have taken a hike all over the world, especially in New York. This has caused such a problem for law enforcement, especially NYPD. Officers are hard at work to stop these thefts, and now law enforcement are using different means to stop thefts from happening. This is where Activation Lock comes in.
According to a new report from AllThingsD, New York Police Department officers are now handing out flyers in substations to encourage iPhone and iPad users to upgrade to iOS 7. This is a good effort on NYPD’s part to try and stop these thefts from happening.
Apple introduced several new features in iOS 7, one main feature that concerns everyone is Activation Lock. This feature brings improvement to Find My iPhone by preventing an individual from disabling Find My iPhone without knowing both the Apple ID and the account password of the original owner. The person who has the iPhone (a thief, for example) can’t restore it or reactivate it without these account credentials. The person can only stare at the phone and look at the message being shown to return the device.
This feature will allow police officers and the owner of the stolen device to locate the phone. Since Find My iPhone can’t be turned off, the only way for the thief to hide would be to turn the phone off, however if the thief tries to use it, the location of the phone can still be tracked. This is a very good reason for users to upgrade to iOS 7, and the reason why NYPD officers are encouraging iOS users users to update their device.
NYPD cops are in front of Apple stores passing out flyers telling me to update my iOS. Corporation and government never felt so united.
— Tam Nguyen (@tambnguyen) September 20, 2013
NYPD has a message for you iPhone and iPad folks pic.twitter.com/cxzHLpgh60
— Jim Rosenberg (@jimrosenberg) September 21, 2013
What do you think?