Apple accused of irresponsibility

Apple is being accused of being irresponsible for not cooperating with British police on iPhone thefts. Photo: Kaspersky .

Apple and the Met Police are continuing their heated argument, blaming each other for failing to control the rising number of iPhone thefts in the British capital.

While the Met Police has recorded some successes in tackling theft, including using Find My to recently disrupt a large-scale smartphone theft ring, the force has been critical of Apple's lack of co-operation.

Citing The Telegraph , Met Police claim that Apple has full access to the National Mobile Register (NMPR), a vital database of stolen devices. However, they allege that Apple uses this access on a daily basis but not for the purpose of preventing theft.

“Apple had access to NMPR and used it daily to check the network status of exchange devices, but they did not check for stolen status or take the necessary action,” Met Police reported to the UK government .

The Find My feature has proven effective in tracking stolen iPhones globally. Photo: AppleInsider.

The report admits to some inconsistencies – including that Apple does not monitor NMPR for trade-in devices – but the core claim is that Apple is ignoring a serious theft problem. According to statistics, more than 80,000 phones were stolen in London in 2024, although the exact number of iPhones is not yet known.

Previously, Apple had "responded" by asking Met Police to focus on "traditional policing" and directly arrest criminals.

“I want to make sure that the Met Police continue to do traditional policing. That means sending us a stolen device request and Apple responding. We don’t see that happening,” Apple’s Gary Davis said in June 2025.

In the wake of recent allegations, Apple has spoken out to highlight existing security features like Stolen Device Protection. However, the company has also revealed that it is considering blocking an iPhone via its IMEI identifier as soon as it is registered as stolen.

Apple warns that this measure still poses a risk of abuse, as individuals could falsely claim to be users.

London's Met Police also added they had seen an increase in links between smartphone theft and more serious crime, including knife crime, drugs and child exploitation gangs.

The dispute between the Met Police and Apple is a long-running one. In 2023, the Mayor of London asked both Apple and Google to come up with specific privacy measures – despite the fact that both companies had already implemented such measures years earlier.

Source: https://znews.vn/apple-bi-to-vo-trach-nhiem-post1599787.html