California Senate OKs requiring 'kill switches' on cellphones

[alp227]

Source: LA Times

The state Senate on Thursday approved a measure requiring cellphones sold in California to be equipped with “kill switches” that make them inoperable if stolen.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and other law enforcement officials backed the legislation as a way to reduce robberies, many of them violent, in which thieves take smartphones to resell them.

“We have a crime wave sweeping our state,” Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) told his colleagues. “We are trying to keep our constituents safe on their streets and in their neighborhoods.”

The bill had previously failed in a Senate vote, but Leno agreed to change it to exclude electronic tablets and to delay the date by which phones must be made with kill switches -- from Jan. 1 2015, to July 1 of that year. Those changes resulted in Apple and Microsoft dropping their opposition to the measure, but others in the industry remain against SB 962.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-calif-senate-cellphones-kill-switches-20140508-story.html

[mopinko]

1. wtf, apple HAS kill switch.

this is long overdue.
but ya know, to the cell phone companies a stolen phone is just another way to get a new customer signed up.

[arcane1]

5. I used to joke that that was why Apple colored the iPod and its earbud cables white

So they would be obviously visible to a potential mugger, thus necessitating a new iPod purchase

[billhicks76]

15. BS

This is highly misleading. Required!?!? If I'm worried about an object I own getting stolen then I can pay extra for a kill switch. What's next? GPS required for my car because it might get "stolen"? Or a chip I'm my body so I don't get kidnapped? The worst part is some republican who works with law enforcement probably found some gullible democrat dupe to their bidding. This is about cutting off communication with certain phones in certain areas if there is civil unrest or disobedience. Anyone who thinks this is about protecting our property is a fool. Wake up Amerikkka.

[sendero]

22. The cost of this..

... per unit is probably vanishingly low. Also, nobody is going to make special phones for CA, they will all have the kill switch. It's just software.

As for abuse potential, just as easy to shut down a few cell towers and disable all comm in a given area.

[mopinko]

23. no, its not bs. chicago public transit was awash in cellphone thieves.

its a little better on the trains, because they installed more cameras.
but i had my phone grabbed, it is quite a racket.
complete with the guy that grabbed the thief for me when i chased him, made him give me back my phone, and then let him go.
they have it down to a science.

my son also got knocked over the head for his phone. when he got up to chase them, they clonked him again. that phone stayed gone. that's when we figured out what a scam the whole thing is.
it isnt even software in the phone. you can get apps to track and kill your phone from 3rd parties.

honestly, i couldnt, and didnt, believe that they couldnt find his phone. i still dont.
but it goes on.
its a big problem. and older women like me are a favorite target.

so, no, its not bs. thanks. not

[onehandle]

2. I can already kill my iPhone, iPad, and Macbook Pro if stolen.

I can sign into any smartphone, tablet, or computer to do so, via Apple.

[pipoman]

3. Does it make the screen and other components unusable?

I figured most stolen phones are parted out. .

[bhikkhu]

9. Have you ever tried to part out a smartphone?

Most of the value is in the EIN, not the phone - they don't come apart easily, mostly just a package of pretty well integrated stuff that's not worth much if you can't use them on a network.

[pipoman]

11. i have changed my touch screen

And my son's. If something is stolen the thief doesn't mind getting $50 for the screen assembly of a $500 phone....phone parts are big items on ebay..

http://ebay.com/itm/251398110766?nav=SEARCH

[Atman]

21. That's why I happily carry my cracked iPhone with no case.

I had a LifeProof case on it for a long time, but it wouldn't fit with the plug on my portable boom box. The one time I took the case off, so I could listen to music on the deck, I dropped it and it landed on a rock. Fortunately it landed on the back, and the break didn't affect the camera lens, so I just said screw it...it's pretty worthless now, so unlike a fancy new 5S, my old cracked iPhone 4 isn't too attractive to thieves. Yet it still works perfectly. If I wanted it to be "pretty" I can put another case on it.

[mopinko]

24. meh. you should be able to replace the screen

$50-75 tops.

[Atman]

25. It's not even the screen

Just the back glass. The front is perfect, it still functions fine. But it's 3G, so not the fastest thing out there. Best Buy is now selling iPhone 16gb 5S, for AT&T, Verizon or Sprint for just $1 (the give you a $150 BB gift card, but you have to then use the gift card to buy the phone). I'm eligible for an upgrade, but I just don't really care. My old cracked phone works fine, and I won't have to buy all new chargers and car adapters.

[mopinko]

27. sounds like a job for duct tape.

lottsa fun ones out there these days.
i always carry a duct tape wallet. when they get beat up, i make a new one.

[christx30]

4. That's wonderful.

And during large scale protests, like an American Spring, they can shut off cell phones in the area to prevent protestors from coordinating.

What a super dooper idea.

[WilliamPitt]

6. ^^ This.

[CreekDog]

13. this hysteria about this is surprising me, they have this in other countries

it's not like we don't have it to protect our freedom. we don't have it so that the companies we bought our phones from can sell us another if ours is stolen.

Apple already has this and the sky hasn't fallen.

i understand worrying about our freedoms, but the tech companies didn't oppose the kill switch because it would take away our freedom. they opposed it because it was designed to benefit consumers in a way it has in other countries.

[951-Riverside]

7. It gets even better.

This kill switch also lets them remotely wipe your phone of all data like *ahem* photos and *cough* videos.

This is so cool!

[iamthebandfanman]

8. +1

was kinda surprised to see folks praising it..

[CreekDog]

14. because they have it in other countries

and Apple devices already have a form of it. Iphones here. Yes.

Sky is not falling and will not fall because of this.

[Maedhros]

12. That was the very first thing I thought of when I read the thread title. [n/t]

[seveneyes]

19. As if they can't just disable the cell tower system anyway

That is not a valid concern. If we would just make the violent thefts too costly for the scum doing it, that would likely do it.

[mopinko]

28. as if most cell towers work in big crowds anyway.

they usually get pretty overwhelmed during big events downtown.
but yeah, that is the real kill switch. and we know att rolls over for the feds, so....

[OilemFirchen]

10. Only on DU...

would you have Apple snobs bragging that their devices already have kill switches, and emoprogs envisioning the Stasi killing phones en masse at a an inconsequential rally of nobodies.

I love this place!

[billhicks76]

17. A Rally?

Last edited Fri May 9, 2014, 05:38 PM - Edit history (2)

It's not the 1990s. When things hit the fan it will get serious. Study other countries and history and you will see its attitudes like that that will leave you befuddled when it's too late. Civil unrest is unavoidable as we haven't addressed our economic and environmental problems. Why do you think every police dept us being armed like the military and the NSA is tracking everyone. You think it's for fun? They are preparing. Fools on our side are not. Hey somebody flagged this comment? That's unbelievable. My point is that you don't have Apple do it because it's a specific small area of protestors and why would Apple be complicit in that anyway ? They would want to target an area and jam those phones without affecting the general public or even the general public in those areas. It's about targeting specific activists and leaders as has been done in other countries...ok I guess it was my subsequent post that barely had enough people to jury hide it. Someones sensitivity was touched because I said "Do you have a working brain?" before I explained the facts. I'm sorry. I almost edited that myself but really? We are so oversensitive I get my post banned because of that? No wonder we never get anywhere and republicans win. I have been called names and insulted and I never ban those. And I've seen NSA supporters say things that should be banned but never are and we are allowed to freely insult republicans which is hypocritical even though I've done it. This site is Overmoderated.

[penultimate]

20. Assuming law enforcement or whoever is willing to go as far to block communication

To quell civil unrest, wouldn't it make more sense for them to do it at the network level? If they rely on a feature being activated or installed on the phone, then the people they would really want to block would most likely either have it disabled or have a non-kill switch phone. There will probably even be ways to fake the feature if somehow they managed to make a law that required all phones to have it. So, if the eviiiiiiil government wanted to block people from communicating, they would enforce it at higher level that the users would have a harder time bypassing. Relying on the devices to play nice would not be an effective way for a totalitarian state to control the masses.

[Atman]

26. ^^^ Stop making sense.

Hysteria is much more fun!

[Sylvan1]

29. Willing to go as far? That would be the first step if true civil unrest were to arise.

Do you think those in power ever feel like they have enough control over others? Redundant systems of control are being put in place and will be used. New toys like standard issue riot gear, sonic cannons and high frequency electromagnetic heat rays are available now and boys with new toys are just itching to try them out. You can scoff all you want, but police departments have been systematically converted to military style gear and equipment over the last decade. The words "To Protect and Serve" have been removed from most police vehicles. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

[penultimate]

30. How many times have they scratched their itch to used active denial systems on the American public?

If they get to the point in which they do unleash those on the public, then my point stands that they wouldn't rely on using these 'kill switches' to deny communications. That would simply be unreliable and better methods would be employed.

[GeorgeGist]

18. And you're worried about ...

Steve Stockman possessing Valium in 1977.

[Psephos]

31. Will be used by police/government. Any fool can see that. n/t