Senate Dems introduce ‘kill switch’ bill

New legislation in the Senate would require cellphones to come with a “kill switch” to make them less appealing to thieves.

Mandating the feature on all new cellphones would erase people’s personal and financial data and render the phones useless if they are stolen, the four Democrats backing the measure say. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), almost one-third of all robberies involve a stolen phone.

“Cell phone theft has become a big business for thieves looking to cash in on these devices and any valuable information they contain, costing consumers more than $30 billion every year and endangering countless theft victims,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said in a statement. 

“This legislation will help eliminate the incentives for criminals to target smartphones by empowering victims to take steps to keep their information private, protect their identity and finances, and render the phone inoperable to the thieves.”

Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) also introduced the bill.

Read the entire piece here: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/198403-senate-dems-introduce-kill-switch-bill