The theft of iOS devices is rampant throughout the world, but Apple obviously doesn't want people to have to hide their iPhones in fake Blackberry cases to use them in public without fear. Phone carriers could dramatically reduce theft by refusing to activate stolen phones (every device enabled for cellular service has a unique hardware ID), but so far the carriers have been slow to act. And even if the U.S. created a registry of stolen phones, it's unlikely all foreign carriers would follow suit, so the bad guys would simply ship stolen phones overseas.
Under iOS 6, it was already difficult for a thief to access your private data, and iCloud subscribers could use Find My iPhone to lock a lost or stolen device and (through an onscreen message) encourage that device's return. However, a tech-savvy thief could simply force a restore of the phone, iPad, or iPod touch; swap out the SIM card (on a phone); and end up with a like-new device.
But there's good news on this front: Thanks to a new feature called Activation Lock, iOS 7 offers very little incentive to any potential thief.
With Activation Lock enabled, someone who's found or stolen your device can't disable Find My [iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch] on the device without knowing both your Apple ID and that Apple ID's account password. The person with your lost device can't erase data on the device, either. And best of all, if you designate your device as being lost, whoever is in possession of it can't restore or reactivate it—the phone displays only a phone number and a custom message about contacting you.
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