California Passes Law Mandating Smartphone Kill Switch

alphadogg (971356) writes "Smartphones sold in California will soon be required to have a kill switch that lets users remotely lock them and wipe them of data in the event they are lost or stolen. The demand is the result of a new law, put into effect on Monday, that applies to phones manufactured after July 1, 2015, and sold in the state. While its legal reach does not extend beyond the state's borders, the inefficiency of producing phones solely for California means the kill switch is expected to be adopted by phone makers on handsets sold across the U.S. and around the world."

Comments

Re:Worldwide reach

[mrchaotica]

A State should not have to the power to force a separate product.

That ship has already sailed. The California Air Resources Board (CARB), for example, has had stricter auto emissions standards for years, resulting in cars being sold in either "49-state" and "California emissions" versions, or a "50-state" version that meets CARB standards whether it's sold there or not.