Government simplifies registration of the Celular Seguro app – 04/11/2024 – Tech

The government simplified the registration process for the Celular Seguro app, created to block stolen cell phones, and stopped asking for the device model and Imei identification number, the Ministry of Justice announced on Tuesday (9).

The updated version of the application is available on the Play Store, for Android devices, and the App Store, for iPhone owners.

The measure aims to make the program more accessible by including people who do not keep the device box and are unable to check the Imei code, for example.

The application continues to request the device to be blocked from Anatel using this code, now obtained by Celular Seguro from the smartphone’s own system.

The user can now register on the app just with their phone number, device brand and operator name. The government also added the “Other operator” field to the form, and there is now a list of brand options.

Cybersecurity experts consulted by the report say that immediately blocking the telephone line is not guaranteed, as the system requires up to six hours to send the request and one business day to carry it out. Furthermore, criminals still have the possibility of connecting to a WiFi signal, even with the chip blocked.

They recommend, however, installing the application to speed up the blocking process and reinforce user security instead of activating each of the services.

Wanted by Sheet, the Ministry of Justice says that the time for the blocking to occur depends on the partner institution and is stated in the application’s terms of use. “We continue to be in constant negotiations with the partners that make up Celular Seguro to improve response times.”

The government also included a restriction of one blocking request every 15 days, on the grounds of increasing the system’s efficiency.

The measure does not prohibit the blocking of new devices, but rather sends alerts in cases of devices where news of loss dates back more than 15 days, according to the Ministry of Justice.

According to a statement published by the department, the changes were made based on recommendations from companies that partner with the app (banks, delivery apps, operators, smartphone manufacturers and others).

The program also allows the user to choose whether to block, in addition to the device and line, banking applications and shopping apps. Previously, the option blocked the device and apps at once.

The ministry added an additional step to make blocking due to false alarms more difficult, a confirmation notification that the alert was sent.

The Celular Seguro app does not offer a simple unlocking option, and sites like Reclame Aqui gather complaints from people who have recovered their cell phone or chip, but have difficulty normalizing the line.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the user needs to request access to the operator, banks and other blocked services. “Each company follows a different procedure for recovering devices and accounts in applications, described in the terms of use.”

The app was launched in December with the aim of discouraging property crimes against cell phones, by reducing the possibility of criminals carrying out financial transactions with their smartphones.

In an interview with Sheet, the then executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Ricardo Cappelli, stated that the app reached the public with “the minimum possible to work well”. The plan was to improve the application in the following months.

According to the 2023 Brazilian Public Security Yearbook, the country recorded a 16.6% increase in cell phone theft over a period of one year, going from 853 thousand cases in 2021 to 999.2 thousand occurrences last year. The average is 114 cell phones stolen per hour in the country, around two every minute.

The founder of cybersecurity company Grupo EXA, Alberto Leite, says that the government app can add features such as screen locking, device tracking and protection against loss of bank values ​​to reinforce security.

“This could be done by expanding partnerships with other financial institutions, security companies and smartphone manufacturers.”