California has officially passed a new law that requires cellphone makers to include an anti-theft technology in all smartphones made on and after July 1, 2015.
Senate Bill 962, also known as the kill switch bill, was created by Senator Mark Leno in February and sponsored by District Attorney George Gascon of San Francisco. It aims to require cell phone makers such as Apple and Samsung to include built-in tools that allow owners to lock their smartphones and discourage phone thieves from stealing their devices.
"The bill would require that the technological solution, when enabled, be able to withstand a hard reset, as defined, and prevent reactivation of the smartphone on a wireless network except by an authorized user," stated [pdf] in the bill.
California is not the first state to require cell phone makers to include a kill switch into all their phones. Minnesota owns the distinction for that. However, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the first kill switch bill into law that requires all manufacturers to turn the kill switch on by default. This does not include older smartphones that do not have the technology to support a kill switch and second-hand smartphones.
Violations of the new kill switch law would incur a penalty of anywhere from $500 to $2,500, but it is considered unlikely the cell phone makers will not comply with the law. In fact, smartphone makers Apple, Samsung, HTC, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Huawei and the major mobile carriers have already signed an agreement to allow their customers to be able to wipe out their devices and prevent thieves from being able to restore them.
Apple, for example, introduced iCloud Activation Lock in September, which requires the user to key in a username and password to reactivate a locked smartphone. Data from San Francisco and New York attorney generals reveal that the first half of 2014 saw iPhone thefts plunge by 38% and 19% in the areas respectively. Samsung followed suit with its own version of the activation lock for its Galaxy smartphones in April.
The CTIA, a trade group representing the wireless industry, says the creation of laws regulating the smartphone industry will only undermine existing efforts to prevent theft and encourage hackers to direct their efforts on the kill switch technology.
"Today's action was unnecessary given the breadth of action the industry has taken," says Jamie Hastings, CTIA vice president of external and state affairs.
"Uniformity in the wireless industry created tremendous benefits for wireless consumers, including lower costs and phenomenal innovation. State by state technology mandates, such as this one, stifle those benefits and are detrimental to wireless consumers," he adds.
Proponents of the kill switch law, however, are wary of the motives of the CTIA since wireless industry players have struck up profitable deals with insurance providers.
