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iOS's Activation Lock Cuts iPhone Thefts by up to 38%

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Smartphone thefts as a whole are on the rise, and according to a massive new report from the FCC, they now account for 10 percent of all robberies in the United States. But there's a silver lining to the announcement. Ever since Apple implemented its Activation Lock for iOS 7, thefts of the company's coveted handset have dropped sharply.

Activation Lock's effectiveness is especially apparent in Apple's home turf of San Francisco, as Gizmodo discovered in the 136-page report, where iPhone thefts are down by a full 38 percent. Not bad, considering that smartphone thefts accounted for a whopping 59 percent of robberies there last year.

Notably, San Francisco is the home of District Attorney George Gascon, who's partnered with New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman over the past couple of years to draw attention to the problem. The outlook isn't quite as good in Schneiderman's turf of New York, though, where iPhone thefts are only down by 19 percent. The lock is also effective overseas, as thefts in London are now reportedly down by 24 percent.

All total, 3.1 million Americans had their smartphones stolen in 2013, and that includes all makes and models. That's quite a jump up from 2012, in which 1.6 million thefts were reported.

Follow this article's writer, Leif Johnson, on Twitter.


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