It's a threat that many people have in the back of their mind but tend to push away. It's the thought of your smartphone being stolen and the thief not only running up charges on your account but also getting their hands on your personal information. Now one of the biggest wireless carriers is rumored to be launching a service designed to help those with stolen phones.
The Verge reports that it got access to a note sent by AT&T to its customer service representatives. The note stated that, starting this Tuesday, July 10th, the company will allow its customers to suspend access to a stolen smartphone. AT&T customers must contact a customer service representative in order to suspend their smartphone. If a device has a remote data wipe app, the customer must use that app before their phone is blocked by AT&T.
While the article claims to have heard from an unnamed source at AT&T that the company "will have no directory of blocked phones", it also adds that only the customer who asks for a phone block will be able to restore the smartphone. That certainly does suggest that AT&T will have some kind of list of stolen phone numbers that it will have to keep track of. If there is such a list, you can bet that privacy groups would have some concerns about AT&T's use of such information.
Source: The Verge
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