With police urging iPod users to be wary of would-be muggers in the face of what some call an “epidemic” of thefts, questions are being raised about whether manufacturers could be doing more to secure the devices.
While iPod maker Apple Inc., has moved in recent years to help customers secure the data on their music players and the company's popular iPhone, some observers wonder whether the manufacturers are exploiting available technology to combat gadget theft.
One of the first things Apple encourages new iPod owners to do is register it through the company's iTunes music service. During the registration process, Apple asks the user to input the serial number of the iPod as well as personal information such as their name and address.
Apple stores this information on its servers so that it can recognize an individual's iPod. When a user buys a new song or video, Apple requests credit-card information associated with the iPod account.
This access to information has led some members of the technology and law-enforcement communities to ask: Why can't Apple do more to locate stolen iPods?
“We're at an age now with all this technology, including iPods, where it all calls home to the mother ship,” said Marc Hinch, a police officer from California who founded the site stolenipod.com, where theft victims can post the serial numbers of their missing devices in the hopes that someone will return them.
“When you plug that iPod into iTunes, it's calling home to Apple,” he said.
There are about 1,000 stolen iPods listed on Mr. Hinch's website and as many as 10 new ones are added every day. And, many more can be found on sites such as craigslist.com and trace.com.
People like Mr. Hinch argue that Apple could be taking a more active role in identifying and flagging stolen iPods.
If the company were provided with a list of serial numbers from stolen devices by police, the argument is that the company could either block those devices from accessing iTunes –preventing the user of the stolen device from updating or adding music – or possibly even track the user's location using the computer's IP address.
It is not clear if Apple has the technological capabilities to track a user's IP address or whether the company could remotely disable a stolen device. The company could not be reached for comment.
Last year, the U.S. news program Dateline conducted an investigation into iPod thefts and how difficult it would be for Apple to track stolen devices. The reporters “lost” 20 new iPods around the U.S. which included special software that allowed the Dateline crew to record the personal information of whoever registered the device. The crew were eventually able to track down 12 of the 20 iPods.
When Apple unveiled the latest version of the iPhone in July – which combines an iPod with a cellphone – it also launched an online store known as the App Store, where users can purchase games and other software to customize their devices.
Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs has since revealed that the company maintains an internal “kill switch” which can shut down and erase any application, both in the company's online store and on every user's iPhone, if the software is deemed to be harmful or malicious. If the company can kill an application, some argue it should be able to do the same for an iPod.
However, some analysts say that with more than 100 million iPods sold since the device first came on the market in 2001, it may be too costly and time-consuming for the company to track stolen devices.
The company could also be opening itself up to liability or privacy concerns if it were, for example, to shut down a legitimate iPod by mistake.
