Industry battles cellphone theft
Posted November 8, 2012 12:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The wireless industry is moving to combat cellphone theft by setting up a database that will blacklist lost or stolen phones to prevent them from being reactivated and sold on the black market.
If your phone is reported lost or stolen, cellphone carriers would “blacklist” the phone to keep it from being used by someone else, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) said Thursday.
That would make phones less valuable on the black market, the CWTA said.
The measure is expected to go into effect by Sept. 30, 2013, and the United States will soon follow suit.
“With U.S. wireless carriers following Canada’s planned implementation by completing similar international database measures by November 2013, customers across North America will benefit from this added level of protection,” CWTA president & CEO Bernard Lord said.
The CWTA is also launching a consumer information website ProtectYourData.ca that will offer tips on how to secure cellphone data and how to avoid having your cellphone stolen.
It will be up to consumers to report that their phone has been stolen and to have it deactivated. The theft should also be reported to police, the CWTA said.
With files from The Canadian Press
