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
    491·
    2 个月前

    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
    461·
    2 个月前

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

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
      2613·
      2 个月前

      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
        210·
        2 个月前

        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
      71·
      2 个月前

      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·
      2 个月前

      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·
      2 个月前

      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

  • I Cast Fist@programming.devEnglish
    287·
    2 个月前

    Here’s a better idea: how about NOT making phones such stupidly high value items where thieves can access your bank account, make an instant loan and steal that, too?

    • Rin@lemm.eeEnglish
      5·
      2 个月前

      Doesn’t your bank need 2 sets of creds to log in? Mine does.

      also, i like my phone to be fast. If i wanted my phone just be a cheap thing, i’d buy a second hand google flagship from 3 years ago and flash with custom rom.

      With my phone being high end, comes the risk of theft, like with virtually anything high end (watches, ice, etc)

      • Chakravanti@monero.townEnglish
        1·
        2 个月前

        Yeah, like access to “your” phone. Kind of stupid. It’s like fuck you to all banks. Get PGP signature services and fuck off with you demanded access to my fucking camera and mic.

      • I Cast Fist@programming.devEnglish
        16·
        2 个月前

        Doesn’t your bank need 2 sets of creds to log in? Mine does.

        That’s irrelevant when the mugger is holding a gun at you and telling you to input the passwords.

        • Rin@lemm.eeEnglish
          8·
          2 个月前

          I wasn’t sure what you meant. I assumed someone stole your phone and tried to get into it.

          I’m not sure how you can protect anything from the 5 dollar wrench attack :/

          probably not having a phone or credit card. I’m sorry that fucked up shit is happening in Brazil.

        • potustheplant@feddit.nlEnglish
          61·
          2 个月前

          There’s a significant difference between your phone being stolen and this random scenario you just made up.

          • I Cast Fist@programming.devEnglish
            24·
            2 个月前

            This is literally one of the most common scenarios in Brazil. The city of Sao Paulo alone had over 103k cell phones stolen in 2023, almost every week on the news there’s a story about someone being forced at gunpoint to make a bank transfer before the criminals flee with the cellphone. In other situations, the victim is taken to a bank agency and the cash is drawn to the daily limit from a ATM (lightning kidnapping as it’s called here)

            Be thankful this kind of shit doesn’t happen where you live

            • potustheplant@feddit.nlEnglish
              51·
              2 个月前

              You’re missing the forest for the trees. It’s one thing to have your phone stole but it’s another completely and unrelated thing to have someone force you to do something on your phone at gunpoint.

              How the hell is any type of security system ever going to be able to help you in the scenario you described?

              In case you don’t know what your type of comment is called, it’s “moving the goalpost”.

        • Moonrise2473@feddit.itEnglish
          2·
          2 个月前

          The Money has to go somewhere. If it’s a bank transfer, then the police can follow it and arrest the receiver.

          If it’s a mugging where they take you to the ATM, then having the bank app on the phone is irrelevant as it’s just card+pin

          There’s a reason in France the crime rings are kidnapping cryptobros: they can get millions, they can get them immediately and it’s way harder to follow the money

          • I Cast Fist@programming.devEnglish
            2·
            2 个月前

            I know that, so do criminals, which is why they either open fake accounts with stolen personal information, or ask someone to “lend” their account, which they use, draw all the money and then pay the account owner. That still leaves a partial trail, but police often has more pressing crimes to investigate

            Welcome to Brazil, where crime is 5 steps ahead most of the time

            • Moonrise2473@feddit.itEnglish
              2·
              2 个月前

              In my country the account owner will get 2-6 years of prison for money laundering, so nobody would “lend” or rent that. Unless it’s stolen identity, and then if widespread the bank will be responsible for having weak KYC procedures (for example ING bank, with a worldwide revenue of 18 trillion, was banned from getting new customers in the country for around 5 years because they allowed to open online accounts too easily)

    • atrielienz@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 个月前

      On the other hand I like that my phone does those things and don’t want it to be sellable in the event that someone decides to steal it.

  • absquatulate@lemmy.worldEnglish
    131·
    2 个月前

    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
      7·
      2 个月前

      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
    12·
    2 个月前

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

  • db2@lemmy.worldEnglish
    133·
    2 个月前

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

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      5·
      2 个月前

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