> With this upgrade, if a thief forces a reset of the stolen device, they’re not able to set it up again without knowing your device or Google account credentials. This renders a stolen device unsellable, reducing incentives for phone theft.
Is this going to be a significant deterrent to mugging in practice, or are muggers still going to approach for your wallet, and take the phone in any case (to prevent calling, and to flip it for parts)? Is there data?
For muggers that want the phone not to be tied to a Google account, is a mugging going to turn in a more intense and lengthy encounter, while they make you deactivate your account on it? (And they're getting nervous about how long it's taking, and take it out on you.)
Personally, my first choice is not to be mugged. But, if/when I do get mugged again, my second choice is that it be a quick and smooth transaction, in which everyone remains calm, and I don't get physically hurt nor develop PTSD.
In my experience, they're lifted from people's hands while walking, taken out of back pockets, out of lockers, from the window sill at bars/restaurants, etc.
I guess that information will also be be useful, when weighing "X% less likely that your phone is taken when your wallet is taken from your gym locker" against "Y% more likely that a mugging turns into a maiming".
Nice, I didn't catch that one: Let's say that phone snatch&grab is just an easy entry point for people driven to bottom-end crime, and their current snatch&grab is suddenly no longer paying off, but the most immediate barrier to that can be gotten past, if only they step up to getting the phones in muggings.
>Is this going to be a significant deterrent to mugging in practice, or are muggers still going to approach for your wallet, and take the phone in any case (to prevent calling, and to flip it for parts)? Is there data?
It's a deterrent because instead of getting a working phone that you might be able to sell for $500+ second hand, you get a brick that's only usable for parts. It might not stop all muggings, but it does make it much less lucrative. Given how many countries are going cashless, a phone is basically the highest value item a person has on them, so being able to cut the value of that is certainly going to deter the marginal criminal.
>For muggers that want the phone not to be tied to a Google account, is a mugging going to turn in a more intense and lengthy encounter, while they make you deactivate your account on it?
Adding a 1-2 hour probably makes the "force you to unlock the phone" strategy from being viable.
>(And they're getting nervous about how long it's taking, and take it out on you.)
It might suck for the first few people who get mugged, but after the first few the thieves would realize it's not caused by the victim and there's nothing they can do about it. Granted, a person who decides to mug people probably isn't the most rational, but this strategy seems to be used elsewhere (eg. time delayed bank/narcotic safes).
Is this going to be a significant deterrent to mugging in practice, or are muggers still going to approach for your wallet, and take the phone in any case (to prevent calling, and to flip it for parts)? Is there data?
For muggers that want the phone not to be tied to a Google account, is a mugging going to turn in a more intense and lengthy encounter, while they make you deactivate your account on it? (And they're getting nervous about how long it's taking, and take it out on you.)
Personally, my first choice is not to be mugged. But, if/when I do get mugged again, my second choice is that it be a quick and smooth transaction, in which everyone remains calm, and I don't get physically hurt nor develop PTSD.