Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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.

13 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 Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 5, Interesting

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

      I agree with the sarcasm. Kill switches are a horrible idea. And completely unnecessary.

      For example, have a look at The Prey Project. This is a good example of a secure means by which an OWNER can track, and even get screenshots and camera shots from, a stolen device.

      Why "kill" a device when you stand a good chance of getting it back? Killing it does nobody any good, and has lots of quite horrible abuse potential.

    3. 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.

    4. Re: What a great idea! by alen · · Score: 4, Informative

      A lot of stolen phones are shipped outside the USA. A kill switch would render them useless

    5. Re:What a great idea! by gewalker · · Score: 5, Funny

      I thought Windows 8 was a kill switch.

    6. 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.
  2. Re:Unintended uses by i.r.id10t · · Score: 5, Interesting

    On the other hand, you could use it to nuke your own phone if the police had seized it and were using it to find evidence against you...

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
  3. Don't we already have this? by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Something similar has been available for YEARS- all you need do is ask the phone company to invalidate the IMEI number.and/or activate the memory wipe software built into Android, iOS, and Windows phones.

    Has Symbian and Blackberry been left out of this feature? I would have thought consumer demand for it would have produced it on those platforms as well long ago.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    1. Re:Don't we already have this? by MrEricSir · · Score: 5, Informative

      Something similar has been available for YEARS- all you need do is ask the phone company to invalidate the IMEI number.and/or activate the memory wipe software built into Android, iOS, and Windows phones.

      There's still no nationwide database in the US of all stolen IMEI numbers. Even if you tell your carrier that your phone was stolen and they bother to invalidate the number, AFAIK there's nothing stopping the theif from using the phone on a different carrier (assuming the phone is compatible, obviously.)

      --
      There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  4. 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!
  5. Re:Unintended uses by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Funny

    On the other hand, you could use it to nuke your own phone if the police had seized it and were using it to find evidence against you...

    Yeah, right. You really believe the police won't have a kill-switch kill-switch?

  6. 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.