Brazil Launches Tool Against Smartphone Theft, Eyes Greater Uptake

Seguro increased by 76% during Carnival

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In capitals across Brazil, the shadow of smartphone theft looms large, with criminals aiming not only for the devices, but the real treasures that lay within, such as personal data. To counteract that threat, the country’s government launched a tool that enables citizens to block their devices – but adoption is still slower than hoped.

Almost a million devices were stolen in Brazil in 2022, an increase of 16% from the previous year, according to the Brazilian Public Security Forum. Combined with the increasing levels of crime, varying levels of digital literacy among the population around basic security features such as passwords represent another layer of complexity.

To tackle the issue, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), and ABR Telecom, the body that handles mobile portability, launched Celular Seguro. The system enables individuals whose phones had been stolen, robbed, or lost to block their devices via an app or the web.

The introduction of Celular Seguro was met with enthusiasm, drawing over a million registrations within the first two weeks. According to an update from the Ministry of Justice last week, 23,225 devices were blocked in the two months after the launch of the service. The average amount of daily blocks is 300; number shot up to 530 during last week’s Carnival festivities.

According to the government’s update, 1,2 million smartphones are now registered to use the service. However, there are nearly 250 million devices currently in use in Brazil, so adoption has yet to gain momentum. The new tool also prompted a rather unexpected issue – curiosity led some to test the system, only to find themselves unable to unlock their devices afterwards, illustrating a need for raising awareness about the service. No plans have been announced for a broader campaign to that end.

With a streamlined process for victims to notify multiple government and banking institutions through a single platform, the system works provided users registered their phone numbers along with their citizen IDs. The tool also allows for the registration of a trusted contact, who could trigger the alert on the user’s behalf.

However, the tool has its limitations. The process of blocking a phone through the Brazilian government tool is not instantaneous: ABR Telecom forwards the block request within 6 hours, and carriers might take an additional business day to implement it. Response times of banks varies, with some claiming to be able to block access immediately and others taking up to 30 minutes.

Despite these shortcomings, Celular Seguro is seen as a leap forward from previous methods, such as blocking a device’s IMEI number. While this could prevent a phone from making calls or accessing mobile data, it was often seen as insufficient in thwarting financial fraud and data theft.

Next steps for the tool include an update to extend the service to include SIM card blocking. Celular Seguro also does not completely disable the devices, as this would require operating system blocks – so far, Google is the only major developer planning to join the project.

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