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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.
Remember the primary concern when these laws were proposed. As soon as criminals discover a way to maliciously activate the kill switch on a non-stolen phone, there will be serious fallout. Imagine the ransomware. There are similar concerns with law enforcement, who have demonstrated a desire to be able to wipe or forever disable a phone they've confiscated (usually one documenting their misdeeds).
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
That user says a lot of odd things, and Slashdot has had an ignorance/bigotry problem for a long time now.
It's only bigotry if its patently false or misrepresentative. Unfortunately in this case, reams of data back up his snarky comment. Instead of painting people (even oddballs like that dude) as racist, maybe we should be looking at and addressing the underlying issues that drive such high rates of preganancy, "stables" of baby-mamas, and crime in some communities.
It's funny how states that allow most citizens to carry concealed handguns don't have a problem with bad guys grabbing someone's phone, knocking them over, and trying to run off.
I wonder if CA, NY, and the rest of them will ever figure out that "An armed society is a polite society."
No, it's bigotry when you generalize large parts of the population. The reason this guy is racist, and a bigot is because he's assuming that all people named Tyrone will behave in the same way, simply because of their name, and in doing so stamping on those Tyrones out there who are entirely reasonable human beings.
Right, because it's fine to be racist by the back door as long as you don't actually make direct reference to the race in question. As long as you only strongly imply that you're talking about one particular race, then you're fine, you can get off scott free.
Meanwhile, this comment is entirely friendly, and not calling you out, because I only strongly imply that it's my belief that you're an idiot.
Citation of a smartphone remote kill switch being abused? Especially one that, like iOS, is triggered on an erase and is only based on the owner's credentials for unlocking?
Hard to believe such a racist comment is posted from an account with positive karma, but even harder to believe this has been upvoted. WTF??
Are you an American? That would explain your lack of sense of humour. It's called black humour and ironically your righteous indignation makes you sound racist to non-Americans. Get with this century already.
Umm.. that's not what black humor is. Black humor isn't about black people; it's about satirizing the morbid: suffering, pain, death, disease, violence, et al. a sort of self-deprecating look at humanity and our vulnerabilities.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.