Now you can easily track a stolen smartphone with IMEI
The theft of smart devices is no longer only property damage for the victims, but now also exposes us to crimes related to personal information, such as identity fraud and phishing campaigns, claim experts in data protection. In an attempt to reduce this risk, as well as smartphone theft rates, governments in multiple countries have decided to implement a process to disable compromised devices and phone lines using IMEI code.
On average, large urban centers register about
2k smartphone
thefts a month. In such a context, smartphone theft is sometimes a catalyst for
other crimes to be presented using the victim’s information, such as
kidnappings or financial fraud; there is the importance of stopping this
practice.
This initiative would involve the participation
of multiple government institutions, as well as smartphone manufacturers and
mobile operators. In Mexico, for example, people will be able to register their
IMEI before a government office to create a huge database of mobile phone users.
According to data protection experts, the
purpose of establishing this gigantic database is to expedite the process of
blocking or disabling a reported device; by generating alliances between the
government and private companies, it seeks to eliminate any possibility that a
stolen mobile device will be used not only to make calls, but to prevent it
from being used to connect to a WiFi network or as a means of storage, to run
applications, etc.
When this new policy is implemented, theft
victims could call the appropriate government instance to begin blocking their
devices; the intention is that the user can block the equipment even without
having previously registered the IMEI, so it would be up to public
organizations to contact the telephony service providers. Subsequently, mobile
operators will verify the users’ identity, concluding the process to disable
all the functions of a smartphone.
Data protection specialists from the
International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) believe that this measure,
while reactive, can deliver acceptable results to strengthen the privacy of
personal data in a context of insecurity typical of big cities.
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