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Where I live, e-waste recycling is very (over)regulated, so I can see a way out of this problem that doesn't take away from the unprofitability of stealing Appl
by dvdkon 4y ago
Where I live, e-waste recycling is very (over)regulated, so I can see a way out of this problem that doesn't take away from the unprofitability of stealing Apple devices. If Apple allows officially-registered e-waste recyclers (which can't pay more than scrap value for devices) to send unlock requests, they can then sell them on, but thieves won't get anything out of it, barring some grand e-waste conspiracy.
I personally don't like this system, I don't want any third party to have this kind of control over my device, but I have to admit that it's a system that works today and does its job, and with one small-ish tweak it could be even better.
- judge2020 4y ago> but thieves won't get anything out of it, barring some grand e-waste conspiracy. A conspiracy isn't required for this to increase theft. Recyclers could start advertising maybe $50-100 per Macbook if they can guarantee they'll be able to sell each mac people bring in. Next thing you know, people start stealing more of them since there's now a middleman that pays out enough per device and doesn't ask questions like "did you steal these" or "why are all of the Apple IDs different". The only way this would work is if the program had the e-waste centers submit a photo ID of the person that brought the product to match against the current Apple ID name and address.
- dvdkon 4y agoThat's true, but if e-waste recycling is regulated (by the government or a private entity) so that the recyclers can't pay more than scrap value, that would require a conspiracy of the recycler and a third party.