US prosecutors encourage users to upgrade to iOS 7 for Activation Lock security feature
The Activation Lock anti-theft feature Apple built into iOS 7 has earned slight praise from government officials, who are now urging iOS device owners to upgrade to the latest version of the operating system in order to head off device theft.
The Attorneys General for New York and San Francisco issued a joint statement on Thursday following the launch of iOS 7. The statement praised iOS 7's Activation Lock feature as "an important first step towards ending the global epidemic of smartphone theft."
"In the months ahead," the statement reads, "it is our hope that Activation Lock will prove to be an effective deterrent to theft, and that the widespread use of this new system will end the victimization of iPhone users, as thieves learn that the devices have no value on the secondary market. We are particularly pleased that ? because Activation Lock is a feature associated with Apple's new operating system as opposed to a new device ? it will be available to consumers with older phone models who download the free upgrade."
San Francisco District Attorney General George Gasc?n and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have been calling on Apple, Google, Samsung, and others to build better security features into their devices and the operating systems that run them in order to head off smartphone theft.
Specifically, Gasc?n and Schneiderman have been calling for the addition of a "kill switch" on the OS or device level that would render a phone inoperable if it is stolen. Apple's Activation Lock ? which requires that a user's Apple ID and password be entered before anyone can turn off Find My iPhone, erase data, or re-activate a device after it has been remotely erased ? implements many of the changes the Attorneys General had been asking for.
Still, though, the two officials were sparing in their praise for iOS 7, pointing more to "months of pressure from a global coalition of elected officials and law enforcement agencies" as the reason for the new feature.
The Attorneys General for New York and San Francisco issued a joint statement on Thursday following the launch of iOS 7. The statement praised iOS 7's Activation Lock feature as "an important first step towards ending the global epidemic of smartphone theft."
"In the months ahead," the statement reads, "it is our hope that Activation Lock will prove to be an effective deterrent to theft, and that the widespread use of this new system will end the victimization of iPhone users, as thieves learn that the devices have no value on the secondary market. We are particularly pleased that ? because Activation Lock is a feature associated with Apple's new operating system as opposed to a new device ? it will be available to consumers with older phone models who download the free upgrade."
San Francisco District Attorney General George Gasc?n and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have been calling on Apple, Google, Samsung, and others to build better security features into their devices and the operating systems that run them in order to head off smartphone theft.
Specifically, Gasc?n and Schneiderman have been calling for the addition of a "kill switch" on the OS or device level that would render a phone inoperable if it is stolen. Apple's Activation Lock ? which requires that a user's Apple ID and password be entered before anyone can turn off Find My iPhone, erase data, or re-activate a device after it has been remotely erased ? implements many of the changes the Attorneys General had been asking for.
Still, though, the two officials were sparing in their praise for iOS 7, pointing more to "months of pressure from a global coalition of elected officials and law enforcement agencies" as the reason for the new feature.
Comments
i live in san francisco. we don't have an attorney general. nor do we have a district attorney general. we do have a district attorney, however, which the statement you obviously failed to read does mention. but hey, don't let a pedant like me get in the way of your sixth-grade professionalism.
I love how politicians pat themselves on the back like Apple wouldn't have done it by itself.
Maybe Apple would have done this without the prodding. Maybe not. But they did it. Where's the blowback on the other vendors for doing nothing.
Thank you Apple for continuing to innovate in the areas of design, hardware, and software. I think iOS7 is great on my iPhone 5 . . . Makes me want a 5S.
Most Politicians have to take credit for something someone else has done (Apple), because few of them are capable of doing very much. If you listen to the "news channels" and it doesn't matter which one, you will find Politicians, over a period of weeks or months, take credit for something that someone else has done. " I have been calling for . . . ", etc. and now . . .
It is a disgrace that we let them get away with it for as long as they do. They need to have limited terms and / or limited benefits - President and Company included.
If all the Politicians had Social Security benefits, then the problem of the Affordable Care act would be solved (at least for us). We, the non-politicians, would probably have Federal Benefits. And by the way, Federal and State employees need these benefits, as long as they have contributed and put up with these donkeys.
They are not held accountable for their shortcomings, but others are.
Maybe Apple would have done this without the prodding. Maybe not. But they did it. Where's the blowback on the other vendors for doing nothing.
Don't worry. Now that Apple has done the R&D, the Samsungs of the world will follow shortly.
Generally I stay away from anything the government tells me I should do but since it is only the bonehead attorneys office I guess it's ok. Those guys are as insightful as a newsreport on toenail clippings. Besides I already did it yesterday cus iOS 7 is awesome!
Re Jungmark's comment:
Thank you Apple for continuing to innovate in the areas of design, hardware, and software. I think iOS7 is great on my iPhone 5 . . . Makes me want a 5S.
Most Politicians have to take credit for something someone else has done (Apple), because few of them are capable of doing very much. If you listen to the "news channels" and it doesn't matter which one, you will find Politicians, over a period of weeks or months, take credit for something that someone else has done. " I have been calling for . . . ", etc. and now . . .
It is a disgrace that we let them get away with it for as long as they do. They need to have limited terms and / or limited benefits - President and Company included.
If all the Politicians had Social Security benefits, then the problem of the Affordable Care act would be solved (at least for us). We, the non-politicians, would probably have Federal Benefits. And by the way, Federal and State employees need these benefits, as long as they have contributed and put up with these donkeys.
They are not held accountable for their shortcomings, but others are.
In a Democracy, people deserve the politicians they have.
Don't worry. Now that Apple has done the R&D, the Samsungs of the world will follow shortly.
Reverse engineering is easy.
Even with the Microsoft lost relevance, people in the Biz field and tech journalists still see Microsoft biz strategy as the best way of doing biz.
It is strange.
With iOS 7 you can still power off anyone's locked iPhone without needing to enter a password. This disables Find My iPhone in the critical minutes after a theft.
But... I would assume the minute it's turned on, it's connected and locked down... I mean, unless they can turn it back on without it being able to connect to any type of wifi or network? But that's a bit hard to do,right? The phone automatically does this for us on booting up...
Activation lock is activated once find my iPhone is turned on. It does not have to be remotely wiped to be activated. So even if a thief turns off the phone and then wipes it, it will still prompt for the original user's Apple ID login. Very clever.
i live in san francisco. we don't have an attorney general. nor do we have a district attorney general. we do have a district attorney, however, which the statement you obviously failed to read does mention. but hey, don't let a pedant like me get in the way of your sixth-grade professionalism.
Pedant or not, it would be easier to take your comment more seriously regarding professionalism if you had actually used capitalization. There might have been a more polite way to point out the perceived error. And yes, I'm "one of Those People" who point out egregious grammar and spelling mistakes.
Activation lock is activated once find my iPhone is turned on. It does not have to be remotely wiped to be activated. So even if a thief turns off the phone and then wipes it, it will still prompt for the original user's Apple ID login. Very clever.
My point is that I want to track the phone immediately and get it BACK into my possession. It doesn't mean a whole lot to me if my iPhone is in the trash can outside of the home of some thief that couldn't activate it. Hopefully thieves will find the new safeguards to be a deterrent.
What if they steel it, turn it off straight away and take out the sim card, I agree it should need a passcode to shut down
Just curious. I think this will put a trivial dent in subway phone snatchings. I don't think Joe Gangster is going to perform acute analysis of the phone Chuck T. Wallstreetdickhead has pegged to his ear.
With iOS 7 you can still power off anyone's locked iPhone without needing to enter a password. This disables Find My iPhone in the critical minutes after a theft.
Right. Why not require a password to turn the phone off? Am I missing something?
I, for one, won't feel any relief knowing that the phone I'll never see again (and can't locate) can't ever be used again. Yay?
And what if the phone freezes? I don't want to have to wait hours before the phone decides to stop freaking out just to put in a pass code to turn it off...
Less sophisticated thieves will sell the phones for parts just like auto thieves. The more sophisticated ones will find ways to reset the phones after shipping out of the country.