Met Police calls on tech firms to make stolen phones unusable

The Metropolitan Police is calling connected tech firms to marque stolen phones harder to reuse and forestall criminals from profiting.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has asked the location caput for authorities to marque telephone companies people information connected stolen devices, and to enforce measures rendering handsets efficaciously unusable.

The constabulary unit revealed connected Thursday that it had started sharing information with Apple to physique a "global picture" of what happens to stolen handsets, including whether they are being reconnected to a network.

"If stolen phones cannot beryllium reactivated, their worth collapses, and truthful does the inducement to bargain them," Sir Mark said.

In moving with Apple to amended security, Sir Mark said lone a number of stolen phones were being reactivated compared to a fewer months ago, making it "harder for criminals to profit".

It follows an ultimatum the Met Police main gave firms successful March to enforce steps which would marque stolen phones little desirable for resale and reuse.

London has immoderate of the highest rates per 1000 radical of idiosyncratic robbery and thefts successful England and Wales.

The planetary commercialized successful stolen phones is worthy millions of dollars, with a instrumentality stolen successful London worthy much successful countries similar China due to the fact that it has nary of the authorities restrictions enactment successful spot by authorities there.

But according to the Met, the fig of thefts wherever phones were stolen fell by 14,000 betwixt June 2025 and May 2026 - down 18% connected the erstwhile year.

In Westminster, wherever betwixt 69% and 72% of thefts from the idiosyncratic and idiosyncratic robberies each week impact phones, determination has been a simplification of 45.8% truthful acold this year.

Kate Adams, elder vice president of authorities affairs astatine Apple, said: "Keeping our users, their devices, and their information harmless is astatine the bosom of what we do.

"That includes gathering industry-leading information features that importantly trim the information for criminals to people radical successful the archetypal place."

The Met said that Samsung and Google were besides making information changes to tackle the issue.