
Apple Warns Looters with Stolen iPhones: You Are Being Tracked - harambae
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2020/06/01/apple-warns-looters-with-stolen-iphones-you-are-being-tracked/
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rvz
> Apple has taken step after step to try to render its devices worthless once
> taken, including the sticky “Find My” functionality that enables users to
> track down an iPhone. “If your device goes missing,” Apple says “put it in
> Lost Mode to lock it immediately and start tracking its location.”

Well iDevices can already trace themselves offline via Bluetooth and Wifi back
to Apple so the rioters have looted the forbidden fruit and will probably get
a knock on the door by the local authorities.

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babaganoosh89
There's an underworld that will buy stolen goods and part them out. And lots
of middlemen who will help buy the goods. They don't need to ever turn on the
device.

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stevenwliao
When armed robbers took my iPhone, it ended up in Ho Chi Minh City after 3
weeks. I'm guessing it went robber -> fence -> exporter -> foreign shop.
Presumably someone there defeated the Find My iPhone lock or parted it out
then.

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nanomonkey
I'm curious how many of the smart TVs are being tracked. Quite a few of those
were looted over the weekend from what I could tell of the videos being
posted.

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AnonC
Smart looters would just sell the devices for parts without ever powering them
on (by themselves). Anecdotally, I have seen instances of looting different
kinds of items where the thief is interested in getting some amount for the
product. They usually don’t look for the best price available in a used
products market. The amount they got would be a small fraction of what the
item is worth. This may not apply to organized gangs and groups.

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WheelsAtLarge
<\-- Well, thanks to social media, we can now see the message that greets a
looter powering up their new device: “This device has been disabled and is
being tracked,” it says. “Local authorities will be alerted.”

\-->

This is scary. Especially from a company that prides itself on individuals'
privacy. I know that Apple needs to defend itself but if this type of tracking
can be turned-on on thieves, who is to say that they won't turn it on anyone
they wish to follow for whatever reason.

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fortran77
Apple owns these phones. If you owned the phone, you'd have the right to track
it.

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robobro
This does not answer the higher up question as to how to prevent abuse of this
feature...

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Fjolsvith
Has any incident of abuse of this feature ever been reported?

