Smartphone kill-switch could save consumers $2.6 billion per year. But at what cost?
Technology that remotely makes a stolen smartphone useless could save American consumers up to $2.6 billion per year if it is implemented widely and leads to a reduction in theft of phones, according to a new report.
Law enforcement officials and politicians are pressuring cellular carriers to make such technology standard on all phones shipped in the U.S. in response to the increasing number of smartphone thefts. They believe the so-called “kill switch” would reduce the number of thefts if stolen phones were routinely locked so they became useless.
One answer to rising theft has been a cell phone database that blocks stolen phones from being reactivated by new subscribers, but the database only covers a handful of countries, meaning stolen phones can still be used in nations outside of the system.
Finally, people concerned with reusing technology believes the kill-switch causes good equipment is being thrown away premature.
