Device Information

The device information capabilities give businesses access to details about the physical mobile devices being used by their subscribers. This information comes from the mobile network, where devices are identified by their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) and other network-level identifiers. These signals help businesses verify device authenticity, detect fraud, optimize content delivery, and support insurance and device management use cases.

All capabilities in this family follow the CAMARA standard and require the user’s explicit authorization before any device information is accessed.

Device Identifier

What it does: Returns details about the physical mobile device currently being used by a specified mobile subscriber, including device identifiers (IMEI, IMEI SV, TAC) and device attributes (manufacturer and model).

When a mobile device connects to the network, it signals its International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) to the operator. The IMEI is a unique 15-digit identifier assigned by the device manufacturer. An extended version called IMEI SV (Software Version) includes the device’s software version as a 16th digit. The first 8 digits of the IMEI are known as the Type Allocation Code (TAC), which identifies the manufacturer and model of the device.

Device Identifier allows a service provider to ask the operator: “What device is currently being used by this phone number?” The operator responds with the device’s identifiers and, optionally, its manufacturer and model name based on the TAC.

Who benefits:

Insurance companies that need to automatically identify a device a customer wants to insure, eliminating manual entry errors
Fraud prevention systems that want to verify that a customer is not using a device they claim to have broken or lost
Content delivery platforms that need to optimize content for a particular device type or OS
Device management platforms that track which physical devices are associated with corporate or enterprise accounts
E-commerce platforms verifying that a user’s device matches what they claim during high-value transactions

Why it matters:

Device identity is a strong fraud signal. If a user reports a device as lost or stolen but is still actively using it on the network, that is a clear indicator of fraud. Similarly, knowing the device type allows businesses to tailor their services — delivering appropriate content formats, blocking access from unsupported devices, or detecting anomalies when a user suddenly switches from a high-end smartphone to a basic feature phone.

Unlike app-reported device data (which can be spoofed), the IMEI comes from the network and is significantly harder to fake. This makes it a more reliable source of device identity for security-sensitive use cases.

What information is returned:

The Device Identifier capability provides two operations:

Retrieve Identifier: Returns full device details including IMEI, IMEI SV, TAC, manufacturer, and model. Use this when you need the complete device fingerprint.
Retrieve Type: Returns only the device type information (TAC, manufacturer, and model). Use this when you only need to know what kind of device is being used, without needing the unique device identifier.

Both operations return a lastChecked timestamp indicating when the information was last confirmed to be accurate by the operator.

Example response:

json

{
  "lastChecked": "2024-02-20T10:41:38.657Z",
  "imei": "490154203237518",
  "imeisv": "4901542032375180",
  "tac": "49015420",
  "model": "3110",
  "manufacturer": "Nokia"
}

Use case: Insurance verification

A user opens a mobile insurance app and wants to insure their current device. Instead of asking the user to manually enter their device model (which is error-prone and can lead to incorrect coverage), the app calls Device Identifier. The API returns “iPhone 15 Pro Max” and the app pre-fills the insurance form with the correct device, ensuring accurate coverage and eliminating user friction.

Use case: Fraud detection

A user reports their phone as stolen and files an insurance claim. Before processing the claim, the insurance company calls Device Identifier to check whether the device is still active on the network. If the IMEI associated with the user’s number is still connecting to the network, the claim is flagged for further investigation — indicating the device may not actually be stolen.

Use case: Content optimization

A video streaming service wants to deliver the optimal video quality for each user’s device. Instead of relying on user-agent strings (which can be spoofed or inaccurate), the service calls Device Identifier to determine the actual device type. If the user is on a high-end device with a large screen, the service delivers 4K content. If the user is on a basic device, it delivers a lower resolution to save bandwidth and ensure smooth playback.

Multi-SIM scenario handling

In scenarios where a main phone number is shared between multiple devices (such as connectivity plans that let you share your allowance with a smartwatch or eSIM-enabled tablet), the phone number passed to Device Identifier is treated as the secondary phone number. The API returns the identifier of the single device associated with that secondary phone number.

The primary device is usually allocated the same main and secondary phone numbers. Providing the main phone number to the API will return the identity of the primary device (typically the smartphone), not any associated devices.

Privacy and data protection

Device identifiers are considered personal data under GDPR and similar regulations. The Device Identifier capability requires explicit user consent before returning any device information. The operator ensures that only authorized service providers with valid user consent can access this data, and all access is logged for audit purposes.