“With police urging iPod users to be wary of would-be muggers in the face of what some call an ‘epidemic’ of thefts, questions are being raised about whether manufacturers could be doing more to secure the devices,” Matt Hartley reports for The Globe and Mail.
“While iPod maker Apple Inc., has moved in recent years to help customers secure the data on their music players and the company’s popular iPhone, some observers wonder whether the manufacturers are exploiting available technology to combat gadget theft,” Hartley reports. “If the company were provided with a list of serial numbers from stolen devices by police, the argument is that the company could either block those devices from accessing iTunes -preventing the user of the stolen device from updating or adding music – or possibly even track the user’s location using the computer’s IP address.”
“Last year, the U.S. news program Dateline conducted an investigation into iPod thefts and how difficult it would be for Apple to track stolen devices. The reporters “lost” 20 new iPods around the U.S. which included special software that allowed the Dateline crew to record the personal information of whoever registered the device. The crew were eventually able to track down 12 of the 20 iPods,” Hartley reports.
“However, some analysts say that with more than 100 million iPods sold since the device first came on the market in 2001, it may be too costly and time-consuming for the company to track stolen devices,” Hartley reports.The company could also be opening itself up to liability or privacy concerns if it were, for example, to shut down a legitimate iPod by mistake.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Just image the lawsuits.
Apple could set this up so that only the registered owner of an iPod or iPhone could authorize the use of the kill switch. If it did so this would be a good feature.
Personally, it makes more sense to me to make bricking/tracking software available to the iPod purchaser for a nominal fee. Think of it as insurance, even if it doesn’t guarantee the iPod’s retrieval.
I would especially want to be able to brick my iPhone if it were stolen.
It shouldn’t be Apple’s responsibility to make the iPod/iPhone theft-proof; though as MDN pointed out on the weekend, Apple should educate users not to keep the ONLY copy of their music and videos on their iPod, especially considering how cheap hard drives and blank DVDs are!
Bad idea. First time the kill switch is inadvertently triggered, Apple gets a massive publicity hit. The upside is negligible, the downside is huge.
-jcr
how about a pop up that mentions a reward if returned EVERY time the thief trys using it? Each person can log into their own itunes account and enter how much reward they want to offer.
Sounds like a good biz for a 3rd party. I agree that it is a dicey project for Apple to take on.
Ottawa Mark:
There is absolutely no way any data on any iPod could be the ONLY copy of some content. Every iPod (and iPhone) will contain either the entire copy, or a subset, of owner’s iTunes library. The only way you could put data on an iPod is through your computer. An iPhone (and iPod touch) running the updated software can buy and download music over WiFi or EDGE/3G, thus creating an only copy of that music (until the next sync with the mother ship), but all other iPods CANNOT possibly have the only copy of music/video.
Fee-based tracking software sounds like a reasonable idea. You pay a little extra and get some software that allows you to brick/track that iPod if it’s stolen. That would make sense.
Like Deepdish said, just have a pop up window come up every time the person plugs in the iPod without first putting in a password.
I know one way for an instant security boost: alphanumeric passcodes to unlock your iPhone and iPod touch. It’s much easier to crack a four digit number than the eight character combo of letters and numbers I’m ready to use.
That’s part of the beauty of a full QWERTY touch keyboard that can pop up at anytime. iPhone software designers seemed to have had the pre-touch iPod on the brain where a simple four digit code was the least painful for its clickwheel.
If a registered owner signs up for and pays extra for the protection/insurance, then yes. The program can pay for itself and maybe even make a small profit from the fees like iTunes music and the app store.
only if it kills the person who stole it.
The only way such a thing would prove as a deterrent (and it would be nice not to be attacked in the first place) is for Apple to do it and to do it for all devices.
Nice idea, but probably not too practical . . .
That is just asking for mistakes to happen with frustrated legitimate customers.
Lots of good ideas about how this could be done.
I think the best idea is to offer a theft insurance policy. The true cost of an iPhone (16 Gig) is $499. If you lost (stolen?) yours that’s what it is going to cost you to replace it.
Annual average cost two year contract $249.
Loss/stolen insurance per year: $25. A premium equal to 10% of the retail cost, directly with the manufacturer, would be very profitable, even after deducting costs of unrecoverable units.
Only if Apple can guarantee the kill.
Maimed thieves provide endless fodder for trial lawyers.
Please do not turn Apple into Micro$haft…
Gregg Thurman:
Your ‘true cost’ guess is quite a low-ball; it has been widely reported that Apple gets roughly $650 for each iPhone, when carrier’s subsidy is added to the retail price.
Make Semtex iPhones?
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@R2 — Apple now has an “N tries then wipe” feature to at least make sure the thief has to be very lucky with said keypad in their attempt to crack your security password.
Any solution would have to protect against someone doing something untoward after a legitimate third-party sale — that makes it a bit tougher (e.g., I sell ipod, then decide to report as stolen and the new owner has a bricked iPod).
Jailbreaking a stolen iPhone likely throws another wrinkle in here, too, folks.
@Predrag:
If one manually manages their playlists, they could keep just a copy on their iPod. That said, they’d be pretty stupid if they did.
I was referring more to the feature story from the weekend, about youths risking bodily harm to protect their iPods, arguing that their whole music collection was on them. Pretty dumb move for a device that costs a couple hundred bucks, especially since you’d have to make an effort NOT to have it all backed up.
Even if you owned a legacy 160 GB iPod, how expensive would it be to back everything up?
I don’t care about privacy, track the bastards who kill and beat for iPhone’s and iPod’s.
DRM for the iPod?
Great!
When my Ford truck gets stolen, I will call Ford and ask them to make all gas stations NOT give gas to the truck.
Or something.
Object made by company, sells to customer – end of relationship, except for warranty.
Hazard is GOOD for you – dont try to make the world as safe as milk…..
I want locking of iPods but, even more, iPhones. Through my iTunes account. Of course, I should be able to use a pin of iTunes again to unlock.
The key here is to MARKET the devices as not-worth-stealing. That way, it becomes a pre-stabbing feature, rather than a post-stabbing feature !!!
I just had my Garmin and IPOD stolen from my car this morning and it is pretty dis-heartening to know that even with all that neither can do anything about tracking or even preventing us of the devices. Really! You can’t even connect to your library without internet for the IPOD and the GPS has a satalite signal. I think this is a perfect example of companies wanting to sell more devices as a result of a theft. Instead of reporting that information to the police they make the victim “Me” pay. Pretty sad! Also if you suspect an item as being stolen, don’t buy it. You know if it is missing it’s power cord or has music and movie already on it. Most sellers would remove all music and movies before selling.