Refurbishers, repairers and recyclers call on the FCC to stop phone software locks

In response to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) request for comment on their new carrier unlocking rule, refurbishers, repairers and recyclers called on the agency to take on a different type of lock: Software locks that prevent reuse and drive electronic waste.

July 26, 2024

Re: Promoting Consumer Choice and Wireless  Competition Through Handset Unlocking

WT Docket No. 24-186 Requirements and Policies NPRM

To Secretary Dortch and other FCC concerned parties:

We are consumer advocates and refurbishment professionals who write in strong support of the Commission’s movement toward a uniform handset unlocking policy. We also urge the Commission to address other software locks that restrict the secondary market and harm consumers.

Carrier locks are not the only locks affecting the cell phone market. Over the years Apple has increased its use of Activation Lock, and Mobile Device Management (MDM). These locks affect all Apple products — iPhones, iPads, and most recently MacBooks, and even the Apple Watch. Google, Samsung and other phone manufacturers also make use of similar software locks. While these locks are intended to deter thieves by making stolen devices unusable and therefore not worth stealing in the first place they also make millions of donated or handed-down phones unusable, harming the environment and the used phone marketplace.

The Activation Lock is often accidentally triggered when a user or institution neglects to release it before donating or reselling their device. If someone does not turn off the activation lock on their phone before they drop their phone in a donation box, it can’t be reused. Even worse, institutions neglect to release millions of devices before discarding them to electronics recyclers. The phone is physically functional but software locks prevent its reuse. Recyclers and refurbishers which acquire them have no recourse with Apple, or other manufacturers. This leads to devices being scrapped en masse, and many are only a few years old when they are prematurely destroyed. Historically, locked devices have been used by refurbishers for parts, as the lock only affects the logic board, however Apple recently announced plans to extend Activation Lock to individual parts of its devices as well.

Similarly, Apple Mobile Device Management, or MDM, causes millions of Apple devices to be scrapped every year, rather than reused. MDM is an administration system which allows an institution to enforce policies across all devices. Institutions regularly fail to disenroll devices from MDM before passing them on to recyclers. This leads to the device prompting a corporate login, effectively bricking the device.

Both systems lock devices when an enrolled device first connects to the Internet. They have a common flaw — consumers are required to undertake an all-too-easily overlooked manual step to release devices to the next user. Donated devices are not stolen, or illegally acquired, and they have typically been wiped, so release of the locks does not constitute a data security risk.

The environmental impact of these software locks are huge. In the U.S. we generate 500 lbs. of electronic waste per second. We throw out 416,000 phones each day. Software locks that stifle the secondary market and prevent reuse contribute to this unnecessary mountain of e-waste.

The Wireless Alliance is an electronics recycling facility located in Lafayette, Colorado that has over 30,000 phone and tablet donation programs across the country. They have received over 66,000 reusable iPhones that were activation locked between 2015 and 2019. These reusable phones were scrapped instead of being reused because of the activation lock. 1 in 4 iPhones they received in 2018 were activation locked, and many refurbishers report this proportion has grown significantly each year.

Many other electronic device manufacturers have introduced equivalent systems. Samsung’s Reactivation Lock serves a similar purpose, aimed to limit the use and resale value of stolen devices. Even Samsung’s own recycling facilities obviously struggle with customers sending in locked devices that cannot be easily reset, having published documentation requiring customers to disable their lock in order to receive a trade-in payment. Google, Motorola, LG, and others have similar Factory Reset Protection locks that, although optional, can be equally limiting barriers to cell phone reuse.

While the dark side of these locks is not widely known to the public, the loss of millions of devices constitutes an environmental concern and harms consumer’s ability to acquire a low-cost used cell phone on the secondary market. The most efficient way to keep phones out of landfills and to support a robust used-phone marketplace is to reuse them, but activation locked phones cannot be reused. There needs to be a way for recyclers to have the activation locks removed from non-stolen phones that are donated. Unfortunately, there is no effective and practical method allowing refurbishers to flag locked phones to manufacturers in order to have locks turned off. This prevents new consumers from benefiting from the perfectly reusable devices their previous owners have tried to pass on. Therefore, if a phone’s lock is not lifted by the original owner, the lock is permanent.

We recommend the Commission create a system whereby manufacturers and refurbishers can verify donated phones are not stolen and have the activation lock lifted so it can be used by someone else. We recommend a system that allows the following:

Refurbishment companies like those signed below can run activation locked phone identifying information through carrier, manufacturer, or national databases to check if they are stolen. For any that have not been reported Lost or Stolen and are older than 30 days, the IMEI number should be sent to the manufacturer like Apple or Samsung and they should unlock it, allowing it to be reused. Any that have been stolen should be turned over to law enforcement or returned to the original owner either by the recycler or the manufacturer.

Addressing the harms of Activation Lock, Apple Mobile Device Management, and other software locks, in addition to carrier locks, is the most comprehensive approach to unlocking policy.

Thank you for your consideration of these issues and your work on carrier locks.

Sincerely, 

Lucas Rockett Gutterman

Designed to Last Director

U.S. PIRG

 

John Bumstead

Owner

RDKL, Inc.

 

Elizabeth Chamberlain

Director of Sustainability

iFixit

 

Paul Roberts

President

SRFF (Secure Resilient Future Foundation)

 

Peter Schindler

Founder & CEO

The Wireless Alliance

 

Frank Donato

Owner

Technology Surplus & Services

 

Wilburn Rhoades III

Owner

Cache-In, Inc.

 

Greg Grill

Sr. Director

Assistive Technology Exchange Network

 

Chuck Kocanda

Owner

LED Tech Solutions