Tech giants embrace the fight against smartphone theft

Mobile theft has risen tremendously over the last few years and mobile loss is even more common amongst smartphone users, however some of the mobile industry giants, such as Apple, Samsung and HTC have signed a pledge to include new anti-theft technology preinstalled onto their phones starting from July 2015.

The Wireless Association (CTIA) announced the signing of the ‘Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment’ earlier this week. Apple, Samsung, HTC, Microsoft, Google, Nokia, Motorola and T-Mobile were amongst the signees for this new anti-theft technology.

These companies have agreed that new smartphones, manufactured after July 2015 will have a pre-loaded or downloadable anti-theft tool.

This amazing new anti-theft technology will allow users to remotely wipe data from the phone, rendering it inoperable in case the phone is lost or stolen.

The anti-theft technology will also prevent reactivation without the user’s permission and that includes factory reset attempts. However it will allow the authorised user to reactive and restore data if the phone is ever retrieved.

Unfortunately this agreement only caters for the U.S, however it is likely for the UK to follow suit with the increase in mobile thefts.

But if you are an Apple iPhone user, you will be pleased to know that iOS 7 already has an Activation Lock feature that is designed to make it a lot more difficult for thieves to use. The Activation Lock requires an Apple ID username and password if the thief tries to switch off the Find My iPhone or if the iPhone has already been wiped.