Post by cjm on Jul 15, 2018 17:56:21 GMT
Despite the frequency of cell phones being lost, the information about what to do, is anything but clear.
1. Blacklist your phone with your phone company. As far as I can determine, it is not possible to do this online. You need ANOTHER phone to blacklist. Fat help this. You have to answer certain questions about your phone before it is blacklisted. Of course this just blacklist the phone. It is not clear to me what precisely "blacklist" means. Does the phone still receive messages etc or is it completely non-functional. Presumably it still contains all your priceless information.
2. You can do all sorts of things via Google and the Android app Find my Device, but this is for smart phones. Again you also need ANOTHER smart phone. If you lost a simple cell phone, not connected to the internet, you have a problem.
3. Track the phone yourself via the IMEI number which you have to get BEFORE the phone is lost.
Court order required to trace phone
Your phone's IMEI number can be accessed by dialing *#06#.
Both Goldstuck and Van der Haar told Africa Check the IMEI number can be used to track the location of a mobile device.
However, tracking “can only be done by the mobile network operator to which the phone is connected. Usually, this can only happen when there is a court order requiring the operator to track a specific phone,” Goldstuck said.
“It is usually a last resort, and in extreme cases, as the operator is most commonly asked to trace and intercept calls via a regular phone number.”
Van der Haar told Africa Check that tracking is possible but requires “the appropriate legal documentation”. The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA) provides allowances to do this, Van der Haar added.
The act allows law enforcement “to see which new SIM cards are put into a stolen device and retrieve [details of] the SIM card owner from the RICA database, thereby aiding in the investigation,” Van der Haar said.
Both Goldstuck and Van der Haar told Africa Check the IMEI number can be used to track the location of a mobile device.
However, tracking “can only be done by the mobile network operator to which the phone is connected. Usually, this can only happen when there is a court order requiring the operator to track a specific phone,” Goldstuck said.
“It is usually a last resort, and in extreme cases, as the operator is most commonly asked to trace and intercept calls via a regular phone number.”
Van der Haar told Africa Check that tracking is possible but requires “the appropriate legal documentation”. The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA) provides allowances to do this, Van der Haar added.
The act allows law enforcement “to see which new SIM cards are put into a stolen device and retrieve [details of] the SIM card owner from the RICA database, thereby aiding in the investigation,” Van der Haar said.
By and large, a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs. For simple phones option 3 seems the best.