For retrieving stolen mobile phones, the Russian Metro Police have come up with an interesting idea. They are planning to install devices across various subway stations in Moscow that shall be able to read the data on SIM cards and will be able to alert the authorities when it spots a mobile phone that has been listed as stolen in the police database. The authorities shall then use the time and place of the alert and use closed-circuit television footage to nab the thief. These devices will scan the mobile data of any person who comes within its five meters radius.


Even though the basic purpose of this system seems noble, the system could have potential as a data aggregation service like the PRISM project. There are privacy laws in Russia which make it illegal to track a person without permission from the concerned authorities but Moscow Metro police chief Andrei Mokhov has stated in a interview with the local "Izvestia" newspaper that since they are tracking the SIM card which is technically the property of the mobile service provider they are not breaking any rules.

So what do you think of this system and whether these kinds of systems can be implemented in a country like India where mobile phone theft is a common problem. Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: Creepy: Moscow outfitting metro stations with SIM card snooping machines - PhoneArena