Brian X. Chen of the New York Times writes:
In San Francisco last year, nearly half of all robberies involved a cellphone, up from 36 percent the year before; in Washington, cellphones were taken in 42 percent of robberies, a record. In New York, theft of iPhones and iPads last year accounted for 14 percent of all crimes.
Some compare the epidemic of phone theft to car theft, which was a rampant problem more than a decade ago until auto manufacturers improved antitheft technology.
Michael Bloomberg has blamed Apple products for growing crime rates in New York City before, noting that the devices are the preference of thieves looking to make a quick buck. The New York Times has been increasingly and consistently publishing coverage on growing concerns over the theft of personal devices, and now several news organizations have referred to the act of snatching an iPhone away as “Apple Picking.”
Josh Harkinson of Mother Jones slammed wireless carriers for not doing enough to prevent smartphone thefts, asking why the phones couldn’t be tracked once they reach secondhand markets. Brian X. Chen does the same, but additionally asks why tech giants such as Apple aren’t doing more to curb thefts. San Francisco’s district attorney, George Gascón, says, “Unlike other types of crimes, this is a crime that could be easily fixed with a technological solution.”
Finding the specific accounts and highlighting individuals on Twitter would be invasive, but I do recall clear cases where those I’ve followed have had iPhones snatched out of their hands while simply leaving a bar. My campus email address is occasionally sent incident reports of parking lot thefts where iPhones are stolen from students after being confronted. It’s a real issue that’s not just happening in major metropolitan tech hubs. While carriers are jointly working together to track smartphone thefts with a national database, the IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity) number that identifies specific phones can be easily spoofed.
Many of those I follow have echoed requests for basic security precautions against thefts like this, such as requiring a password to power off iPhones so that features like Find My iPhone aren’t as easily combated by thieves. I think something as simple as that is smart, even if it’s a minor inconvenience for people who need to do so. We can argue that it is sole the responsibility of owners to hide their iPhones or be more discrete, but I do think tech giants should find ways make these kinds of thefts less lucrative. Thefts like this cost both consumers and local government — the NYPD even has their own division for responding to smartphone thefts. And no one should have to feel unsafe for taking a call or finding their way around town with their phones.
