A new law passed in California on Monday will require smartphones to come with a remote kill switch to render them useless in case of theft or lost. The reason for the new law is the ever rising amount of crimes originating in the small smart-devices. The bill was signed by Governor Jerry Brown in the latest effort to stop the epidemic in his state.
Under the new law all smartphones sold in the state after July 2015 will not only have to come equipped with the kill switch function but also requires the manufacturer to notify the users that the function exists.
“Our efforts will effectively wipe out the incentive to steal smartphones and curb this crime of convenience, which is fuelling street crime and violence within our communities,” said the author of the bill, state Senator Mark Leno.
The bill received wide support from California prosecutors and law enforcement agencies that hoped it could help reduce smartphone thefts, that now account for more than half of the crimes committed in San Francisco, Oakland and other large cities.
Other U.S. states are experiencing the same problems with theft and crimes related to smartphones and are considering similar new laws. Minnesota passed a theft prevention law in May, but this new one is the first to also force the notification to the user about the feature.
The mobile industry originally opposed to the bill, but changed their mind once the activation date for it was postponed until July 2015.
Thank you Reuters for providing us with this information
Image courtesy of Tomsguide.
*queue sarcasm* Seems like a great idea! Why bother asking telecommunication companies to make a system that checks serial numbers (Because every phone is registered with one) for reported stolen phones when you can change law and probably run into bugs of this ruining peoples not so stolen phones.