Apple Stores are NOT Confiscating Jailbroken iPhones
 

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A lot of people are talking about a story that surfaced on Twitter this past week that, while unconfirmed, has raised eyebrows.

The poster of the story - hotrod1964 - revealed that he recently visited an Apple Store and, upon a sales associate discovering that the man's iPod Touch was jailbroken, the store's manager was summoned. The manager allegedly lambasted hotrod1964 about his “illegal iPod Touch.” When the "hacker" refused to turn over his device or his driver's license, security was called in.

hotrod1964, however, stood his ground and refused to turn over his iPod Touch unless a "judge ordered him" to do so. After threatening to sue Apple, it seems the authorities managed to calm the manager and hotrod1964 made it out of the store unscathed and with his jailbroken device in hand.

After this story first started circulating online, a crazy rumor began that proposed Apple had initiated a new confiscation policy for its Apple Store employees. In other words, if an illegal device - i.e., jailbroken iPhone/iPod - is found, it must be promptly taken from the customer and authorities should be called. I have a lot of friends who have truthfully been freaked out by this "news."

Here's the reality of the situation. There is no such policy in place that anyone is aware of. And if you go to an Apple Store, the sales associates have no authority to take your jailbroken device by force or coercion. Based on a personal experience at an Apple Store by yours truly this weekend, I can tell you that my iPhone was never, ever in jeopardy of being captured by a sales associate - one who was fully aware of my "illegal device."

If there is a confiscation policy in place, it certainly wasn't enforced at the Apple Store I visited - a visit, by the way, that was made strictly to debunk this ridiculous rumor and calm the anxieties of my friends who suddenly think the "Apple Police" are out to get them.