When you buy a new car they have the VIN of the car and log any recall repairs done. So not sure how you think the same wouldn't be legal on a phone?
Having a device in their database as NEVER_UNLOCKED takes away any onus from having to look for this in the first place for a large % of users.
Additionally this is kind of important for a company that's had a history of selling devices with hardware defects. It'd be very useful for them to know the RMA rate and whether damage was caused by such a defect or whether it was from a 3rd party software issue.
Having a device in their database as NEVER_UNLOCKED takes away any onus from having to look for this in the first place for a large % of users.
Additionally this is kind of important for a company that's had a history of selling devices with hardware defects. It'd be very useful for them to know the RMA rate and whether damage was caused by such a defect or whether it was from a 3rd party software issue.