Criminal Defense Law With An Apple

So my iPhone was stolen. Bummer, right?  I am still in the first 5 months of this contract, so no subsidized phone. Thanks to all the folks that called and said, “My iPhone was stolen (so they could jailbreak or ebay),” AT&T doesn’t allow you to get another unsubsidized phone while still in contract. I own a 2 year plan and need a phone to go with it. Eesh.

I am not trying to sound flippant. I am mad. But I have an assault case that I am preparing for trial and I do not need to stretch this pain out. No point in being angry at Apple or AT&T.  They didn’t steal my phone. Okay. So get over it and buy the unsubsidized iPhone. But wait. What about everything on my iPhone? All my client contacts and the privileged data on the phone? Well, it is not lost. Once I purchase the new phone, I have my apple Address Book and iCal “push” all the info via my MobileMe account. It takes a while to set up email (it did last time too), but it is up and running within 20 minutes. 

The Phone, the Phone!

But what about the data that is still on the old phone? Preventing sensitive data from falling in the wrong hands is critical. It should be true for all your electronic data. Here, you have to do the smart thing. The iPhone should be set to lock after  1-5 minutes. Your iPhone should have Pass Code turned on. Then… the nuclear  decision. “Data Wipe” after 10 attempts to unlcock (these options can be found in your “General Settings”). Why is data wipe no big deal? If it is your phone, you go plug it back in to your Mac and everything is repopulated. If it is not your phone, you lose, everything is gone, nothing to see here but an empty phone. 

So what about all the calls that our new friend is making to far away lands. My contract was set to unlimited minutes and data plan (some of my clients have the gift of gab). So no lost minutes. Still, there was the potential for sabotage. If someone could figure out how to get in to the phone, or stole it before the lock turned on, they could wreak havoc on my email, calendars and address book.  The next sync could be a disaster. Good new/bad news. The good news is that you can call AT&T 24/7 and have the phone disconnected. It disconnects the phone number and data plan. This makes the iPhone an instant iPod touch. The bad news is that when you do this, if someone calls, the number will go to a pre-recording that says, “this phone number is not taking calls at this time.” So that makes getting a new phone set up a priority.  So I sent one last text message, giving the nefarious holder of my phone a chance to return the phone with a reward. Then, shut it down. 

It’s Over Now & Looking to the Future

At the end of the day, I am still pretty mad. It was an expensive lesson. And what was the lesson, you ask? Patience. See, my iPhone was in my car (it slipped deep beneath the seat). But life goes on. And knowing things are safe and can be restored within 24 hours is a bonus.  

I am considering adding  Instamapper or Gadget Tracker. This is the closest thing there is to a lo-jack, besides TUAW’s solution. I think it might be helpful. I doubt I  would have Seattle PD help me track down my phone. But it might have been nice, if, let’s say, I just lost it.  I am still deciding on the wallpaper that is a “if found” page or I found your phone.  If you can overlook aesthetics, there are also some lost and found websites that allow you to put a sticker on your phone and have the person contact the website for a reward. After looking further, there is a host of choices in this arena. Folks over at Makeuseof.com have a roll your own application.  if you have suggestions, preventative or otherwise, to help survive an iPhone loss, leave it in the comments.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 12:59 am and is filed under iPhone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.