This information can be useful in numerous use cases, such as the following:

• For insurance purposes, to automatically identify a device that a customer wishes to insure
• For security / fraud reasons, to establish that a customer is not using a device they claim to have broken or lost
• For service delivery reasons, to optimize content for a particular device or OS type
• For authentication and authorisation purposes, to confirm that a customer is in possession of a given mobile device

Mobile applications typically cannot access sensitive details about the device they are installed on. The mobile device user can access the IMEI, but may not know how, or may make errors if the information is then conveyed verbally or needs to be retyped. Using an API to automatically obtain this information overcomes any access or information transcription issues.