What Happens If Your iPod Gets Stolen?
- Apple currently sells four models of the iPod, as of early 2011: the shuffle, the nano, the classic and the touch. Storage capacities of iPods range from 2GB to 160GB. The iPod shuffle has no visual interface and uses voice feedback to tell you to which song you're listening. The iPod nano has an FM radio, pedometer and a touch-screen display. The iPod classic uses a small hard drive to store music, videos and photos, unlike other models, which have solid-state memory. The iPod touch has a touch-screen display, two built-in cameras for shooting pictures and videos and making video calls. It connects to the Internet over Wi-Fi and runs games and applications.
- When your iPod gets stolen, you can file a report with the local police department. If your homeowner's or renter's insurance covers property theft, you might be able to get compensation if your stolen iPod is not recovered. However, the insurance plan's deductible may be higher than the cost of replacing the iPod yourself. You need the iPod's serial number, which should be printed on the purchase paperwork and recorded in iTunes, Apple's free application for managing the iPod on your computer.
- If you lose your iPod touch or if someone steals it, you might be able to find its approximate location on a map with Find My iPod touch, a free app that you can download from Apple's iTunes Store. After you activate it using instructions at Apple's How to Set up Find My iPod Touch page at apple.com, Find My iPod touch enables you to set a passcode lock on it remotely to prevent people from accessing it and seeing your personal information or changing your settings. You can also remotely erase all the data on the iPod, resetting it to the factory default settings. If you recover the iPod touch, you can restore the data from the most recent backup on your computer with iTunes.
- If you have sensitive information on your iPod touch, such as emails, notes, documents, pictures or videos, you might want to use a passcode to lock the display. Tap "Settings," "General," "Passcode Lock." Tap "Turn Passcode On," enter a four-digit code and then re-enter it to confirm. You can enable the "Erase Data" option so the iPod touch erases its data after someone enters 10 failed passcode attempts.