Apple is reportedly making its Activation Lock theft deterrent feature on by default in iOS 8 as it moves to please politicians attempting to require smartphone makers implement a remote “kill switch” to disable stolen devices. The news comes from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón who praised Apple’s decision in a statement today.
The two have been pushing smartphone makers for stronger theft deterrent features as part of its Secure Our Smartphones Initiative, but had expressed disappoint with the fact Apple’s Activation Lock feature wasn’t enabled for users by default.
Apple first introduced the feature, which requires an Apple ID and password to reactivate a stolen phone after being remotely erased/wiped by the owner through Apple’s Find my iPhone app, alongside iOS 7 last year. Apple previously asked users setting up a new device to optionally enable Find My iPhone, which includes the Activation Lock feature. The screen above is what users trying to activate a device locked with Activation Lock are presented with.
After months of work with the Secure Our Smartphones Initiative, Apple has taken a significant step forward in our shared effort to make dangerous and often deadly smartphone thefts a thing of the past,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “By being the first manufacturer to make an effective theft deterrent a default setting on new products and making it available to customers using older products Apple is helping ensure the safety and security of their customers. For smartphone theft deterrents to fully work, they need to be widely adopted thereby removing the economic incentive for stealing them in the first place, which is why I strongly encourage consumers to install all available theft deterrent options and why every manufacturer should move as quickly as possible make similar features a default setting for their products. ”
Users on versions on previous versions of iOS will still have to enable the feature by turning on Find My iPhone in Settings or when setting up a new device.
Apple’s decision also follows a recent bill signed into law in California that will require smartphone manufacturers to implement a kill switch in all devices by July 2015.
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hmmm im not really sure this is a good idea, there are so many people that dont know what is their password…
Then this is a good time for them to set a new password that they’ll remember. There are apps out there (1Password, SplashID) that can store passwords securely so they have options for using technology to remember their password.
Plenty of people know their passwords, especially those who download apps from the App Store with any regularity.
You can bypass icloud activation screen lock whit the software tool from this page : http://unlockicloudactivationlock.com/
As long as I can turn it off, that’s all that matters.
Good idea and with good intentions. Let’s hope customers agree.
So what? If a customer doesn’t like it turn it off.
Apple needs to do something for device resale. Currently you can’t tell if a device has been lost or stolen based on its activation panels. Many devices that have not been lost or stolen are still iCloud locked for no reason. So as it stands, lost and stolen iPhones are still resold for parts and the market is flooded with iCloud locked devices which greatly encourages hackers to work around the restrictions and defeat the security it offers. To solve this, Apple must do two things:
It must clearly display the status of the device on every screen (lost, stolen, undetermined or simply locked).
It must create a way to legitimately remove the iCloud lock by contacting the iCloud account holder and after a reasonable waiting period of no response from multiple attempts, unlocks the device (not available if the device is reported as lost or stolen by the owner).
While your intention are good, i do NOT want anything displayed on my screen other than the phone is lost or stolen if i decide it is lost or stolen… And while this may put of some people, this does not deter criminals who simply pay much less for the device…!!! If you can hack the IMEI, then it can be written with a clean number and this negates anything any phone maker does…!!! The simplest way to defeat thefts right now, is to make the IMEI portion on the memory READ ONLY this is the only thing that will change the market for iPhone thefts…!!!
because of this fucking default forced lock, our ipad is now useless because we know freaking password but do not remember its id
How could you forget the iCloud ID? It’s your email address. Do you have THAT many email addresses that you can’t figure it out?