Google is upgrading Factory Reset Protection in an upcoming Android 16 release to make it much harder for thieves to sell stolen phones.
  • saltesc@lemmy.worldEnglish
    451·
    3 months ago

    Call your carrier to blacklist the IMEI. Done.

    It has always worked this way, well before the smartphone era.

    The only way to overcome is to find a country the phone works with and has carriers not part of the blacklisting networks. Doesn’t make for a very practical resale market…

    So, now that’s out of the way, what control is Google actually trying to sneak in then?

  • Luffy@lemmy.mlEnglish
    431·
    3 months ago

    And how does it detect if something is „Stolen“ again?

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
      2413·
      3 months ago

      Spyware. Tracking. Extensive databases. Sneakily active mics and cameras. SIM cards requiring phone numbers tied to government issued ID. Security cameras. Smart home. Facial recognition. Fingerprints. Been incarcerated? DNA.

      • Luffy@lemmy.mlEnglish
        29·
        3 months ago

        The actual fuck?

        And what if I go on a hajk for 2 days and stay in some crackhouse without any connection that night? Will it just lock up and not allow me to call for help until i Am vErIfIeD tO cAlL fOr a tAxI? What if I get hurt and have to call someone to pick me up?

    • EarMaster@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      3 months ago

      You could just read the article. It is pretty straightforward and doesn’t require any spyware or profiling as others have suggested.

    • psud@aussie.zoneEnglish
      11·
      3 months ago

      Someone tries too many times to unlock it with the wrong pin or pattern; someone tries to factory reset it with the wrong pin or pattern

    • psud@aussie.zoneEnglish
      8·
      3 months ago

      It’s good for the common user who’s happy to use all Google services and can remember (or has written down) their credentials.

      It’s absolutely useless for those out of the Google ecosystem

      It’s annoying through to disastrous for people supporting other peoples’ phones

  • absquatulate@lemmy.worldEnglish
    131·
    3 months ago

    Smartphones are common targets for thieves because they contain valuable personal data and fetch high prices on second-hand markets. To protect this data, Android includes theft protection features that lock down a stolen phone. While thieves might try wiping phones they intend to sell, Android already has robust protections against unauthorized factory resets. Google announced today that these factory reset protections will become even more powerful later this year.

    Self-contradicting much?

    These justifications are pointless anyway, everybody knows that google and only google has the right to rummage through your data.

    “We will not allow you to reset the data until we can confirm that the data is yours”

    • Luffy@lemmy.mlEnglish
      6·
      3 months ago

      If you want security and at the same time want to be able to identify your device if stolen, just scratch your name into the back. Or paint it with a marker. Or whatever

  • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zipEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    Only if you’re willing to accept Google spy services and all that shit on AOSP, this stuff doesn’t work.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      5·
      3 months ago

      Then your kid has a friend over that sticks a password on it for the lols and doesn’t know what it was

  • db2@lemmy.worldEnglish
    123·
    3 months ago

    Apple can’t even do that and they have total control of the hardware as the only manufacturer.