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Smartphone Kill Switch, Consumer Boon Or Way For Government To Brick Your Phone?
MojoKid writes We're often told that having a kill switch in our mobile devices — mostly our smartphones — is a good thing. At a basic level, that's hard to disagree with. If every mobile device had a built-in kill switch, theft would go down — who would waste their time over a device that probably won't work for very long? Here's where the problem lays: It's law enforcement that's pushing so hard for these kill switches. We first learned about this last summer, and this past May, California passed a law that requires smartphone vendors to implement the feature. In practice, if a smartphone has been stolen, or has been somehow compromised, its user or manufacturer would be able to remotely kill off its usability, something that would be reversed once the phone gets back into its rightful owner's hands. However, such functionality should be limited to the device's owner, and no one else. If the owner can disable a phone with nothing but access to a computer or another mobile device, so can Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Nokia or Apple. If the designers of a phone's operating system can brick a phone, guess who else can do the same? Everybody from the NSA to your friendly neighborhood police force, that's who. At most, all they'll need is a convincing argument that they're acting in the interest of "public safety."
We all know our leader are just aiming to our best... don't they ?
Why should THE MAN want to brick your phone, when instead they can just track you - that's what they want - then they can brick *you* as needed.
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If bricking a phone would also result in any stored photographs going "bye bye".... I can think of quite a few police who would like that feature.
If you can un-brick the phone after it has been bricked, I'm sure someone will figure out a way to do this without involving the official channels. Theft might go down for a while, and it might never be as high as it once was, but once someone figures out how to un-brick the phone, steeling a phone will still get you something, even if you have to use it on another network or another country. Think blocking the IMEI is going to do it? There are already methods of changing or spoofing IMEI codes on lots of phones. This will stop casual theft, but like most locks, it won't deter determined thieves.
>"Here's where the problem lays: It's law enforcement that's pushing so hard for these kill switches. "
Yeah, like I have been warning people for years anytime the topic comes up. Government misuse. Security nightmare when it gets hacked. Etc. They just say I am paranoid or "tin foil" or whatnot.
I guess I can remind them about my warnings over the last decade about the fed and big business spying on USA citizens. I am amazed at how little most people care about privacy/freedom.
Now, let me get back to reading this letter I got from State Farm today explaining how wonderful it will be to save "up to 5%" on my State Farm car insurance if I am willing to plug in a device that constantly tracks my braking, acceleration, turns, speed, distance, and location.
While I actually agree that this type of feature SHOULD exist I think it is better implemented at the Operator level by them implementing IMEI blocking like every other major carrier around the world. This "kill switch" sounds like a huge target for hackers as all they need to do is break down one wall and they have access to everyones phones kill switch. Much like when China and other Rogue states infiltrated Gmail and other mail carriers years ago it wasnt through the front door but the secret back door that the Govt had installed.
It's actually All of the Above (tm).
It's a way for you to turn off and disable a stolen phone.
And it's a quick way for the Thought Police to turn off all cell phones which take nasty pics and vids and audio when they go all East Germany Stasi on your First Amendment and other rights.
By the way, in case you didn't know, even when they "turn off" wireless and cell node tracers in urban centers that could track your cell phone, they can always turn them back on with 5 minutes. So those cities that "removed" them but never physically removed them still have them enabled for crackdowns on anyone who thinks they actually have rights.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
YOU are why IT has such a bad reputation.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The next step will be a modification to the "stingray" fake cell site unit to brick all phones in an area and prevent uploading of audio or video. This will be used during demonstrations.
As in any good police state, if the police does not like you, the relevant US police force will just shoot you in your home and either claim they had the wrong address, or place some drugs or hints of terror-support. Bricking phones is for children.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Blanket bricking of cell phones, or selective bricking of those of "ringleaders", is an inevitable problem for the most peaceful and well behaved political rally with this kind of technology in government hands. Remember the "Arab Sping", and Tianenmen Square, and even the more recent and quite peaceful "Occupy Wall Street" protests.in the US, and understand exactly why and how law enforcement want this kind of power.
This is nothing but FUD. The Guv'munt can already listen in through the microphone, read everything sent through and stored on your phone, and even use your body as an antennae to connect wireless to a nearby device. "Oh but what if the government bricks my phone!!" Stop living in fear. They can already do much worse. I'm not normally a fan of giving Law Enforcement what it wants, but in this case, their intentions are pure (ish). They don't want to have to spend time chasing down peoples stolen phones. It's the bulk of their time these days, they have better things to do. You don't want there to be an incentive for people to steal your phone. It's a simple matter to disallow a certain phone's ID from a network. The fact that phone companies haven't done this themselves already is the real crime here.
Lots of countries do this already. The US is one of the few that doesnt, and seem to be getting their panties in a knot trying to figure it out. I dont know if it's a "not invented here" issue or just a deep seated mistrust of their government.
The fact is:
- IMEI blocking has generally been working fine. There are supposedly methods to reflash the IMEI on *some* phones but it's quite difficult.
- We are not seeing reports of governments abusing the feature.
Asking your carrier to cut off your network access doesn't prevent you from taking pictures and videos with the phone.
I want a kill switch, in fact I have one on my phone right now in the form of an IMEI blocking scheme by my telco. If someone nicks my new phone it will be worthless within a day.
So far the schemes seem to be working fine and has been adopted across most of Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. It's not actively enforced in many parts of asia and as such has become a hotspot for stolen phone sales.
Enabling a kill switch is not really creating a new kill switch... It's simply giving you, the purchaser, the right to tell the phone company to block the IMEI using the same tools that law enforcement does now. It literally costs them nothing to allow, since it already exists, but, as noted in the Summary, will result in a huge drop in the number of re-purchased phones after theft/breakage... phones that are frequently re-purchased at full price, due to the multi-year contract lock-ins. This is all about money, not freedom.
If the state wants to cut off your mobile phone access they don't need to brick your phone they just ask your carrier to turn off your services.
First its raging against the "Walled Garden" App store, now it's "we don't need no anti-theft kill switch".
Well maybe you don't, my techno friend, but you're in the minority.
The majority of smart phone users do want a device that they
a) can safely install non-trojan software from a verified & reviewed source
b) not be mugged for carrying an expensive toy
Why Law Enforcement in California pushed for the law was that there is a real problem with violent smartphone robberies. The victim steps away from her friends to talk on her smartphone. The thief hits her from the back so she falls forward grabbing her phone and runs. She would not see who the thief was. This is an every weekend occurrence in San Francisco and the San Francisco Police don't like this. A kill switch would make smartphone theft less profitable.
Re ". . . if you're that paranoid." :) You connect, the gov pushes some extra software out too.
We saw the free UK offer of wifi to attempt get to phones of interest under
"UK spy agency reportedly intercepted email of delegates at G20 meetings in 2009" (Jun 17, 2013)
http://www.pcworld.com/article...
"... set up Internet cafes at the G20 meetings in order to extract key logging information and credentials from foreign delegates, giving the agencies “sustained intelligence options” against the targets even after the events ended."
"...allowing the reading of people’s emails before or at the same time as they do"
A few sites kept open to herd the press too, with CCTV and dat collection? All other easy to find sites closed thanks to tame telco help?
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/... 17 June 2013
"Setting up internet cafes where they used an email interception programme and key-logging software to spy on delegates' use of computers"
"Penetrating the security on delegates' BlackBerrys to monitor their email messages and phone calls"
"Supplying 45 analysts with a live round-the-clock summary of who was phoning who at the summit"
In any city for local police work soon
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
What is going on is the governemnt/police want a way to turn off phones when protests are going on. They don't want protestors to communicate. My guess is they know that people are going to be getting sick of the bullshit the government/police pull and will start protesting more.
Be seeing you...
They'll snatch the phone off the person (gathering evidence for their investigation) and the video or the phone will mysteriously disappear.
No it will not because most photos and video syncs to a network service now, and the police know this (mostly).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You're both being silly. Roads, including PAVED roads, have existed for THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
Appius Claudius Caecus, a government official in Rome, commissioned the Via Appia (Appian Way) over two thousand years ago, but thousands of years before that there was a road to Bethhoron. Consider also:
Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
Judges 21:19
As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes.
Hosea 6:9
Raise your hand if you know all about Canaanite infrastructure projects in the third millennium BC. I'm going to venture a guess that neither of you have any idea how the roads in Horeb were built.
Those would be early examples of _improved_ roads. Roads, as named routes, existed in the stone age. Which one of you is going to claim you were at the tribal council meeting in Grog's cave 14,000 years ago to witness the road improvement project being contracted out to Ork?
Or rather lack thereof.
Right now I can walk into a T-Mobile store, buy an iPhone with cash, pay the first month with cash, and get a burner smartphone with a data plan. No ID, no name, no address, no credit check.
If this law is implemented, the ability to buy a smartphone anonymously goes away. You'll have to show an ID. For this law. How else will they know whether you're the person who can request that that phone be bricked?
This isn't about theft, the police don't give a shit about theft. If you don't believe that, try reporting one. This is about removing the anonymity of burner phones.