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Prosecutors Push For Anti-Phone-Theft Kill Switches

Posted by Soulskill on from the who-doesn't-love-a-kill-switch? dept.

New submitter EdPbllips writes "Law enforcement officials nationwide are demanding the creation of a 'kill switch' that would render smartphones inoperable after they are stolen, New York's top prosecutor said Thursday in a clear warning to the world's smartphone manufacturers. Citing statistics showing that 1 in 3 robberies nationwide involve the theft of a mobile phone, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the formation of a coalition of law enforcement agencies devoted to stamping out what he called an 'epidemic' of smartphone robberies. 'All too often, these robberies turn violent,' said Schneiderman, who was joined at a news conference by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon. 'There are assaults. There are murders.'" Apple described a system like this in their presentation about iOS 7 at WWDC.

10 of 257 comments (clear)

  1. What a great idea! by Aerokii · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sure that with everything we've learned recently regarding the Government and phones, there's no way this could -possibly- be abused!

    1. Re:What a great idea! by Giant+Electronic+Bra · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, of course not. Eric Holder and Barak Obama, the FISC, Congress, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, etc are all COMPLETELY TRUSTWORTHY. All they want is to make us all nice and safe. Promise! Nobody would EVER turn off the phones of people they didn't agree with, just as they were organizing a protest? Nah, that could never happen!

      --
      "Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem." -- Jefferson
    2. Re:What a great idea! by LordLimecat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because Prey wont actually help you get your phone back. Eliminating the stolen phone market will prevent your phone from being stolen in the first place.

      Im also not getting the concern over govt abuse. How / why would gov't use a kill switch? If you want to track someone, isnt that the LAST thing they would do? Its not exactly subtle, you would immediately know if it was used.

    3. Re:What a great idea! by Eowaennor · · Score: 3, Insightful
      You could be trading one kill for another

      Consider this: Mugger demands your phone, but knowing that you may just kill it when he runs away with your phone, kills you instead and takes your phone.

    4. Re:What a great idea! by icebike · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Microsoft has always supported the effort. They were the ones who called law enforcement to work about stolen phones. They really cared for customers, imo.

      They may have always supported the effort, but they were far from the first in calling for fixes to stolen phones.

      The universal IMEI/MEID blocking, long in effect in most of the world has been fought tooth and nail by the carriers.

      Because they they earn additional revenue when you come in and buy a new phone after you get mugged, they had no
      interest in setting up and maintaining such a database. It was less than a year ago that they finally agreed to build such a blacklist. This plan could work for existing phones, even dumb phones.

      Rather than give that time to work, they now contrive to call it a failure, and they now want to launch a whole new requirement, and get everyone to buy a new phone in order to be included in the "protected group".

      There are those that insist that you can simply and easily flash a new IMEI on a phone, but it is not as simple as some would have you believe, that the guy in the hoodie who knocks you down and grabs your phone doesn't have the skill set to do so.

      With a blocked IMEI you can unblock it if it is recovered if you can prove to the carrier that you are the rightful owner. With a kill switch, you are screwed. There is little incentive to report a lost or stolen phone, since it ruins any chance of recovery. It will still require replacement once you report it, even if you find it at your friends house where you left it after the party.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    5. Re:What a great idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The problem is that we teach phone owners "don't get your phone stolen", when we should be teaching potential robbers "don't steal".

      This will never change as long as we live in this theft-culture.

  2. Unintended uses by Loopy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The IRS/etc. would NEVER use this to disable someone's communications ability because they were doing something the government didn't like. No sirree. Not ever. Pure as the driven snow, this design is.

    It's like people can't think past the next episode of their favorite TV show.

  3. If you're robbing someone... by intermodal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    you will take their phone regardless of whether it is any good to you. Why? because it can be used to call the police as soon as you leave.

    --
    In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
  4. Okay then by djdanlib · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who's going to inform all of the would-be muggers that the world of cell phones suddenly changed? Bad muggers! Stop mugging! That'll show em! They know they can still sell the phones for parts and make more money than they would just selling a phone. It's not going to deter them from stealing the phone. Besides, JTAG and such will continue to render inoperable phones operable, not to mention that it may be possible to bypass the kill function if you get into the phone fast enough.

    Look at Egypt and Turkey and wherever else. This is an excellent way for a government to say "No more smartphone for you, protestor!" Even if they don't use it in the USA, who WILL use it? The hardware will be built to allow it, so the next nation to have unrest will simply broadcast the kill bits en masse, and the protestors will be censored. Sounds quite delicious from a dictatorship's standpoint.

  5. Shouldn't cell phone thefts help police? by hawguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If 1 in 3 robberies involve stealing a tracking device that can lead police back to the culprit, shouldn't that be making the job of police much easier?

    Instead of a "kill-switch", shouldn't law enforcement be asking for a tracking beacon that can be turned on to help track down all of these stolen phones? (I know Apple's kill-switch does enable GPS tracking, but that doesn't seem to be what the Attorney General is asking for). It's not like criminals are going to say "Oh geeze, I can't sell a stolen cell phone anymore, guess I should finish up my degree and get a real job" -- They are still going to be committing crimes, but will steal cash and expensive purses instead of cell phones.