Gadgetory

AT&T Verizon Sprint and t-mobile are teaming up with the US government to create a database of stolen phones so thieves can't use voice and data services on those devices will be able to take highly prized stolen instruments and turn them into worthless pieces of plastic here's how the database will work if the number is identified as stolen then the carrier will recognize when the phone is when the phone call is made that the number is invalid and invent a call from being made this news comes too late for San Francisco resident boondi Dickinson who had her iPhone stolen two years ago when eighty percent of street crimes are about i phone thefts their laptops like you need to put a law in place like this San Francisco police caught the thief but never recovered Dickinson's phone it not only took away my sense of security because this guy came up to me and tacked me but I did lose one of the only piece of technology that I actually really like experts say this database is a win for consumers but you still need to take precautions thieves can still access your phone's data if it's not password protected if you have an iPhone or smartphone with a lot of photos with a lot of data loaded on it this doesn't prevent anybody named from actually getting into your phone the four largest carriers are expected to create individual databases in the next six months the FCC will then merge them into a central database over the next year in San Francisco I'm Kara Tsuboi cnet.com for CBS News