Cellphone 'kill switches' will be required in California

[jakeXT]

Source: San Jose Mercury News


SACRAMENTO -- Turning to technology to deter thieves, California became the first state in the country on Monday to require "kill switches" on new smartphones.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed the legislation, capping a long, contentious struggle in which California lawmakers and police went toe-to-toe with the smartphone industry over how best to curb an epidemic of thefts plaguing the Golden State.

...

The new phone law requires that all those manufactured after July 1, 2015, and sold in California have anti-theft security features that would render stolen devices inoperable -- a "kill switch" for remote deactivation. Such technology exists, but phone owners must choose it; the new law requires it to be standard on all phones, and owners can opt out if they wish.

...

Even the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based civil liberties group, urged the bill's defeat because it "is not explicit about who can activate such a switch," leaving Californians' rights vulnerable to abuse either by hackers or by law enforcement. But the bill's supporters said abuse is unlikely, and the mandate could save lives. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Monday he would "urge states nationwide to follow California's lead."

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_26403692/brown-signs-cell-phone-kill-switch-bill-into

[951-Riverside]

1. I'm so happy that my phone can be erased remotely

This can't and won't be abused in any way and is a fantastic tool to prevent theft.

My safety and peace of mind is all that matters.

Thank you State of California!

[IMG][/IMG]

[GeorgeGist]

6. Keep Calm, and Remember ...

the bills supporters assure us that abuse is unlikely.

[SoapBox]

2. I loves my California.

[ZombieHorde]

3. Hmmm...

I hope this is never abused.

[TexasTowelie]

4. The opportunity

to turn off the cell phones of the Kardashians and Paris Hilton while they are stuck in the desert after vehicle breakdowns could be a benefit to society.

[davidpdx]

8. Putting them out in the desert together doesn't sound like a bad idea actually

Of course then we'd have to put all the other crazy people out there too, which would pollute the desert.

[still_one]

5. 2015. The iPhone will be released in 2014, so it is not required to have it

[Gormy Cuss]

7. New iOs ( iPhones) already have a kill switch.

Not so for Androids.

[yuiyoshida]

9. This scared me for a moment.. Kill switch..??

setting; The near future
A car drives down the freeway...
cellphone rings

"hey its me, did you see the news? ..."
elsewhere: "oh oh..hit the killswitch!"

KABOOM!!!

on the radio:

And in the news today, a car on I-80 exploded while going 60 mph.. reasons unknown. CHP Has reported the explosion came from inside the vehicle....

elsewhere: "should have kept his mouth shut"

[kentauros]

13. Maybe they should all it the "Brick Switch"

considering the common term for when, through your direct actions a device stops working, that you have "bricked" it

[Trillo]

10. Once killed, does this mean they won't work to call 911?

[WhoWoodaKnew]

11. How many times have the ones that already have kill switches...

been abused/hacked/etc?

[drray23]

12. bad idea

Very bad idea. The problem we have is that politicians are completely tech illiterate so they vote on things for which they have no clue. It is evident to anybody who is the least bit tech savvy that if it works remotely it can be hacked and hence, abused.

There is no such thing as a 100 % secure system. Imagine the mess if due to a glitch everybody's phone in california suddently gets zapped.

[displacedtexan]

14. If you lived in San Francisco, you'd know that most phone thefts are perpetrated by druggies

who are looking for a quick buck or two for their next fix. These crimes escalated on and around public transportation, but even reports of possible kill switches have helped decrease these thefts drastically here... Especially in my neighborhood, Inner Richmond, where the entrances to GGPark are near the bus stops.

My HTC phone has a remote capability that takes a photo of the person trying to use it, and it sends the photo and a secret gps signal to my husband's phone.

[Xithras]

15. Good. These things are getting people killed.

We just had a 17 year old kid stabbed to death not far from where I live...over an iPhone.

Stolen phones have become big business in the criminal world, with the stolen phone market moving hundreds of millions of dollars worth of handsets every year (tens of millions in California alone). Phone thieves are becoming bolder and more violent, leading to many injuries and a number of murders here in California.

The remote bricking feature is designed to make stolen phones worthless. Criminals want the phones because they're worth money, and by eliminating value, you eliminate criminal interest and decrease the violence associated with that interest.

[W T F]

16. Just think, police can remotely erase the video that you took of them while they beat an

innocent man to death. No thank you!