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Federal Smartphone Kill-Switch Legislation Proposed

Posted by samzenpus on from the shut-it-down dept.

alphadogg writes "Pressure on the cellphone industry to introduce technology that could disable stolen smartphones has intensified with the introduction of proposed federal legislation that would mandate such a system. Senate bill 2032, 'The Smartphone Prevention Act,' was introduced to the U.S. Senate this week by Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat. The bill promises technology that allows consumers to remotely wipe personal data from their smartphones and render them inoperable. But how that will be accomplished is currently unclear. The full text of the bill was not immediately available and the offices of Klobuchar and the bill's co-sponsors were all shut down Thursday due to snow in Washington, D.C."

4 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. The Safe Bet Here by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This technology will be co-opted and otherwise downright available to the TLA government agencies.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:The Safe Bet Here by ChristopherMcGinnis · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The NSA could use it to kill communications when the uprising begins.

  2. No Thanks by sexconker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If I can brick my phone over the air, so can THEY, and I don't trust THEM.

  3. Just because you can... by DittoBox · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Just like the remote kill switch that was proposed in cars. This is a solution looking for a problem, and more over it's a solution that's ripe for abuse.

    --
    Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick Two.