Slashdot Mirror
Smartphone Theft Drops After Spread of Kill Switches
alphadogg writes "Thefts involving smartphones have declined dramatically in three major cities since manufacturers began implementing 'kill switches' that allow the phones to be turned off remotely if they are stolen, authorities said on Tuesday. The number of stolen iPhones dropped by 40 percent in San Francisco and 25 percent in New York in the 12 months after Apple added a kill switch to its devices in September 2013. In London, smartphone theft dropped by half, according to an announcement by officials in the three cities.
Racist? Seems racist to think that there is something racial about the name. Is that a US thing where everything is assumed to be racist to get people to shut up?
In Australia, a year or go, it was mentioned on Slashdot that this was a common scam tactic. The seller would sell a phone, call it in as stolen, then pocket both the cash for the phone and either get insurance money or have a new phone. The buyer would be out both, and possibly even have to deal with the law for possessing stolen property.
Only real protection is to make sure to have a bill of sale with the phone's ID numbers on it and a promise that if it is reported stolen by the seller after the sale, this would trigger a fine... likely too much legal work for most people.
Tyrone Willingham
You seem to be assuming the fictional character's race based on the behavior described. Isn't it your racism, then, that is the problem here? Even though you tell yourself you're a good liberal, you obviously pictured a black person in your head--even though GP never mentioned race and "Tyyrone" isn't even how black people spell it. That's obviously on your poisoned mind and your stereotypes. Why did you automatically picture a black person?