A member of parliament representing the NDP (a major Canadian political party) has submitted a bill making tampering of a devices IMEI illegal. The IMEI is a unique serial number embedded in all GSM devices that allows the network to uniquely identify it. Carriers can use this to pair a device with a user or to prevent a stolen device from being activated on someone else’s account.

Read the NDP press release here

 “Cell phone theft is primarily a crime of opportunity, because any stolen mobile device can easily be reactivated with a different carrier,” said Sullivan. “This will make it easier to track lost or stolen phones and will cripple the illegal cell phone trade by making it a criminal offence to tamper with the cell phone identification numbers.” - NDP MP Mike Sullivan (York South – Weston)