WASHINGTON — Major wireless phone service companies have agreed to disable cell phones after they are reported stolen under a strategy intended to deter the theft and resale of wireless devices.
The system announced Tuesday relies on a centralized database that officials hope will be operating within six months. The database keeps a record of the unique identifying numbers on all smart phones. That way, wireless carriers that receive a report of a stolen smart phone will be able to recognize the device and block it from being used again.
“We’re sending a message to consumers that we’ve got your back and a message to criminals that we’re cracking down on the stolen phone” market, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said in announcing the new strategy with several big-city police chiefs and a wireless industry representative.
“It’s just too easy for a thief to steal a phone and sell it on the black market,” Genachowski said. “This program will make it a lot harder to do that. And the police departments we are working with tell us that it will significantly deter this kind of theft.”
Major U.S. cities have been reporting increases in smart phone thefts as criminals steal devices to resell — sometimes overseas — as part of sophisticated operations. Officials say cell phones are now taken in 38 percent of all robberies in Washington, and more than 40 percent of robberies in New York City involve phones. Many of the robberies are violent, police say.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said her department had devoted considerable resources in recent months to the problem, but “that’s just not enough.”
Cell phone carriers covering roughly 90 percent of U.S. subscribers are participating, the FCC said.
The goal is to render stolen cell phones useless, removing the incentive to steal them.
“What we’re announcing here today will make a stolen cell phone about as worthless as an empty wallet,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, who called smart phones “catnip for criminals” because they’re valuable, exposed and easy to steal.
Schumer, D-N.Y., is sponsoring legislation that would make it a federal crime to tamper with smart phones’ unique identifying numbers.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said cell phone thefts have been a persistent problem in the city even as other crime has dropped in the past decade. He likened the new approach to “draining the swamp to fight malaria.”
“Carriers with the push of a button will be able to take highly prized stolen instruments and turn them into worthless pieces of plastic,” Kelly said. “What we’re doing is drying up the market for stolen cell phones and other types of devices.”
B ecause many smart phone owners use the devices for financial transactions, the phones often contain sensitive personal data. The FCC said smart phone manufacturers will also implement automatic prompts that encourage users to lock their devices with a password.
The industry has also agreed to create a campaign educating consumers about how to protect their cell phones and to release quarterly updates on their progress.
Officials wouldn’t say how much the initiative will cost.
Christopher Guttman-Mc-Cabe of CTIA-The Wireless Association, an organization representing the wireless communications industry, said, “It certainly won’t be without costs, but we don’t think about cost in this context.”
“This is about safety and security,” he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Eric Tucker of The Associated Press, by Todd Shields of Bloomberg News and by Edward Wyatt of The New York Times.
Business, Pages 23 on 04/11/2012