Do Kill Switches Deter Cellphone Theft? (arstechnica.com)

evolutionary shares an article from Ars Technica: San Francisco's district attorney says that a California state law mandating "theft-deterring technological solutions" for smartphones has resulted in a precipitous drop in such robberies. Those measures primarily include a remote kill switch after a phone has been stolen that would allow a phone to be disabled, withstanding even a hard reset. Such a kill switch has become standard in all iPhones ("Activation Lock") and Android phones ("Device Protection") since 2015... When measured from the peak in 2013, "overall robberies involving smartphones have declined an astonishing 50 percent... Because of this hard-fought legislation, stealing a smartphone is no longer worth the trouble, and that means the devices we use every day no longer make us targets for violent crime."

Comments

Stolen phones are still valuable for parts

[ZorinLynx]

You can use pretty much every component in a stolen iPhone except for the logic board and touchID sensor (which is paired with the logic board).

So stolen phones are still valuable because you can sell the parts, especially the screens which are the most common component to need replacement since there's so many klutzes out there.

On one hand, pairing the screen and other components with the logic board in a way that only the manufacturer can, like the Touch ID sensor, would solve this problem. On the other, servicing our own devices will become even harder if they do this.

It's a trade-off. It's good that features like activation lock have reduced theft so much though.

Re:Stolen phones are still valuable for parts

[rworne]

Thieves will smash a car window to get a few coins in a car's cupholder.

There's no amount that's too little for them.

Re:Stolen phones are still valuable for parts

[swell]

Right. I'm trying to imagine a horde of meth users carefully disassembling a smartphone in a dark alley using a rusty pliers and a can opener. My imagination isn't quite up to the challenge. Yours?

Put the fucking thing away

[Known Nutter]

In the SF Bay Area -- as many here know -- the local media has been covering a recent uptick in electronic device theft (iPhones and iPads of course) on BART. TFS is reporting these types of thefts are down, but not on BART.

I hate to be "that guy", but for fucks sakes, put the fucking thing away when you're on BART (or any public transit) and pay attention to your surroundings. Why do we have to tell people this? Many of these thefts are grab and dash right when the doors are about to close. That nimrod standing right by the door, headphones on, staring at the screen..? You're a mark.