Minister of Communications Moshe Kahlon remains determined to pass new laws to stop the trend, the sharp increase in the theft of smartphones. His actions come in response to a comprehensive Yediot Achronot report focusing on the thefts. Kahlon feels he can empower police to be more effective in preventing the thefts.

It is estimated that 50,000 smartphones were stolen in the past year as the black market for smartphones increases, providing an incentive for the thefts. The minister explains that 15-20% of the thefts are by drug addicts seeking money for a fix but most thefts are by people reselling the phones back to stores who sell them as used. The proposed law will demand that the store record the identity number of the person selling the used phone by showing his photo ID card.

The Yediot report showed that too often, thieves rely upon illegal workshops to modify the phone’s identity, referring to the IMEI. Kahlon explains his law will also compel stores to compare the model’s IMEI to the international listings and thereby determining if the phone was tampered with.

Kahlon is confident that the new regulations will drastically reduce the number of smartphone thefts.

NOTE: (Wikipedia) IMEI is the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity or IMEI, a number, usually unique, to identify 3GPP (i.e., GSM, UMTS and LTE) and iDEN mobile phones, as well as some satellite phones. It is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the phone. It can also be displayed on the screen of the phone by entering *#06# into the keypad on most phones.

The IMEI number is used by a GSM network to identify valid devices and therefore can be used for stopping a stolen phone from accessing that network. For example, if a mobile phone is stolen, the owner can call his or her network provider and instruct them to “blacklist” the phone using its IMEI number. This renders the phone useless on that network and sometimes other networks too, whether or not the phone’s SIM is changed.

The IMEI is only used for identifying the device and has no permanent or semi-permanent relation to the subscriber. Instead, the subscriber is identified by transmission of an IMSI number, which is stored on a SIM card that can (in theory) be transferred to any handset. However, many network and security features are enabled by knowing the current device being used by a subscriber.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)