BBC reporter's stolen iPhone retrieved in Crouch End estate

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on July 9, 2012 at 13:04

Freshwater spring discovered on Wightman Road without a diviner's rod.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on July 9, 2012 at 13:50

Oh for goodness sake. Surely this is the last kind of thing that should be reported by the media. Now all the muggers know to leave you with your phone or switch the silly thing off. If it was a secret in war time this reporter would go to jail. As it is, we're all worse off having had our sense of insecurity heightened and one of our defences laid out so plainly.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on July 9, 2012 at 14:40

John I don't understand what you mean. The muggers will use the phone at some point, no?

Find My iPhone isn't a secret, in fact its a big selling point. In principle its no different from the Tracker devices hidden in some expensive cars that enable their recovery if stolen.

I think you may be confusing this publicity for this general purpose security feature, with the unwelcome publicity about the CIA's monitoring of Bin Laden's Satellite phone. Bin Laden stopped using it after that publicity. That was a one shot operation, but the Find My iPhone feature should go on helping find iPhone thieves indefinitely; eventually muggers may stop doing it, because it tends to lead the cops straight to them!

I'd prefer to see the robber in prison rather than the reporter, war time or not!

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on July 9, 2012 at 16:16

It said in the article that the only reason it was on for his phone was because he was a bit of a nerd. I bet the statistics for "Find my iPhone on" would be a defence for the reporter if he was charged, "Look your honour, I was doing the right thing as barely 10% of phones have this feature on".

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on July 9, 2012 at 17:42

If the reporter was charged?! Why do you want him in jail and say nothing about the knife-wielding robber?! It seems clear from the article that the robber didn't spend long enough in prison as a result of his earlier knife-mugging two street away. And the Justice Secretary (who IMO has no credibility on this matter) wants to send still fewer to prison!

Your point is becoming still more obscure I'm afraid.

Are you saying that its great to publicise this case so that more iPhone owners take advantage of this feature? If so, it's inconsistent with your saying we are all worse off from the publicity (?!)

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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on July 9, 2012 at 15:41

*raises eyebrows*

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Permalink Reply by Gerry N on July 9, 2012 at 16:29

click the Link (above on the original thread) to the BBC source for the full story. There is also an odd article alongside on a Chelsea "mugging" of 1785. The thieves were both hung !  Has the BBC gone to the right now ?????? or perhaps they don't know what "capital convicted" means ?

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