The UK's Home Secretary should use her powers to push the tech industry to deploy stronger technical measures against the surge in phone thefts, according to a House of Commons committee.

Metropolitan Police figures show 117,211 phones were stolen during 2024, an increase of 25 percent on 2019. Only 1 percent of phone thefts in London result in a charge or conviction, the UK's largest police force said.

As well as trying to catch the criminals stealing phones, the government should focus on cutting demand, according to the House of Commons' Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, a cross-party group of MPs that looks closely at related spending, policies and administration.

The chair of the committee argues it is within the power of smartphone makers to implement pre-existing tech

See Full Page