California Legislature Passes 'kill switch' Cell Phone Bill.

California would become the first state in the country to require "kill switches" on smartphones that prompt consumers to activate the antitheft technology under a bill passed by the state Legislature on Monday and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The increasing number of smartphone thefts in California prompted the bill by state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who said consumers would have more control over their personal information if their device is lost or stolen. The antitheft technology, often referred to as a "kill switch," allows the owner of a smartphone to remotely render it inoperable, which law enforcement officials said would deter thieves who target the devices.

California Legislature Passes 'kill switch' Cell Phone Bill.

My opinion is, in wake of the Missouri Riots, this type of technology would also be enforced by law enforcement to kill phones from video recording any activity. This quote right here has me convinced:

The bill returned to the Senate on Monday for approval of the amendments. The Senate passed the bill in a bipartisan 27-8 vote. Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, urged lawmakers to pass the bill, saying he hoped it would free up district attorneys and other law enforcement officials to "focus on more important crime."

I'm old school. You lose a phone, its gone. Yes thefts are occurring but are less considering its more common for people to have iphones now and most androids come from the low to the high end and are not exclusively luxury items anymore. In my opinion, this is going to be implemented at the hardware level; if so, its just a matter of time before all the phones are mixed in and you can't tell if your phone is that model that can be bricked or not.

Don't forget the Iphone 5cs were the first to utilize this technology. A while back there were articles on ATS talking about the kill switch function in the new iphone 5's for law enforcement to use in a Occupy Wallstreet protest situation.

Bad.

One step closer to police state.

a reply to: ArchPlayer

I'm pretty sure you can track your stolen phone through GPS or triangulation, so this doesn't make much sense to me.

I don't think they would turn off the camera of the phone but rather cut it's internet/communication abilities

It's a type of double entendre, on one hand it serves it's intended purpose of preventing theft, but opens up the possibility for tampering by law enforcement on a mass level

This is a very bad idea. We'll just have to wait for the YouTube video telling us how to take it out.

a reply to: ArchPlayer

My opinion is, in wake of the Missouri Riots, this type of technology would also be enforced by law enforcement to kill phones from video recording any activity.

More people should listen to your opinion.

stupidest law I ever heard, protecting people from themselves? if people want a phone with anti theft technology they will buy one.
since the government now seems to care so much about theft,why not require everything to have an anti theft device?
require all cars, computers, wristwatches, toasters etc to have anti theft devices, why only phones?
probably because the government has no use for exploiting anti theft technology on a toaster.
They are passing this law for our own good, pffft who do they think they are fooling?

Jesus christ............this really makes me mad, do they honestly think we are that stupid to believe they are worried about our phones being stolen......

originally posted by: Tardacus
stupidest law I ever heard, protecting people from themselves?
They are passing this law for our own good, pffft who do they think they are fooling?

Like how we aren't smart enough to care for our own mouths, so we need gov. mandated fluoride additions at the water treatment plants? Totally obscene!

a reply to: Tardacus

If that freaks you out, it is already on vehicles, hence Obama's cash for clunkers to eliminate old school cars.

hxxp://www.gizmag.com/edr-black-box-cars/25582/

This article was from 2012, so the tracking has been going on a while.



Don't forget that the EU already took a page from US Madness...

hxxp://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/18259-eu-mandates-tracking-devices-on-european-cars-nations-powerless

Under the guise of improving “road safety,” unelected bosses at the European Union have decreed that all new cars across the bloc must be fitted with mandatory GPS tracking devices, which analysts say will be used by authorities to spy on citizens. As national sovereignty and self-government increasingly give way to the Brussels-based EU super-state, even elected officials from the formerly sovereign nations claim there is nothing that can be done to stop the plot. However, controversy over the scheme in the United Kingdom is likely to pour fuel on the fire as the British people’s demands for secession grow louder.

a reply to: yourmaker

I'm thinking its going to be a full out brick. Just because the people who would flip the kill switch would want to punish the citizens for exercising their rights. Let's be real here you would be pissed off to have a phone brick on you, especially a iphone 6 or a high end android phone that you paid a couple hundred for brand new and it was bricked making it unsalvageable. Its not like they are making phones anymore to last to begin with.

Give em a inch, they take a couple miles.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

That time is coming to an end. Don't forget Youtube is deleting accounts and that has yet to be determined how that will affect the spread of information. hxx

YouTube is preparing to radically change the site, adding a subscription service that is intended to help them compete in the streaming music industry. The Google -owned video site has already signed new licensing deals with all of the major labels, but many independents are refusing to take part. Apparently, not only are smaller, indie labels not being offered the same deals as the majors, but the contracts that Google is putting in front of them are less than fair. In order to show their muscle, Google has stated that any label—meaning smaller, independent ones—that does not sign a deal with them will not only be left off the new service, but will have their content taken down from the original, free YouTube. Vice President and Global Head of Business at YouTube Robert Kyncl recently claimed that they already had deals with 90% of the industry, and that they had no choice but to move forward.

p://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2014/06/18/youtube-is-about-to-delete-independent-artists-from-its-site/

So we can't just say with confidence youtube will be our go to video encyclopedia in the not so distant future.

a reply to: ArchPlayer
I did forget that. However, there are other sites they just aren't as popular. Personally I tell my kids to look for porn on duckduckgo.com.

I paid $700 for my last phone and my current phone was free. Price tag still $700. The whole keep a phone from getting stolen idea was way before the term smartphone addiction. I am certain we all know exactly where our phones are.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Well, we should all know. Personally I don't have a phone anymore. I'm getting to the point that after windows goes exclusively cloud in the future, that will be the end of my computer days. And believe me, the UEFI boards brought me really close to calling it quits early, especially after Microsoft's "you cant install unless we say so" implementation on the hardware.

For those that still keep a phone, they should have a right not to have their property broken. But then again we are speaking in a country that one month says rooting is legal, then six months later says its illegal and you don't really buy a phone, you're leasing it since you don't own the intellectual property of it.

Okay why did they say this would free up law enforcement for more important tasks? That makes no sense. If someone steals your phone, and so you brick it remotely, your phone is still stolen and the police should still be tasked with trying to do something about it. Like someone said, they have GPS technology, so wouldn't it make more sense for the police to use THAT method? If someone goes and steals a car for instance, and it can be rendered inoperable from a remote location, does that mean the police don't have a job to do anymore? I think not. So either I am misinterpreting how this will free up law enforcement officials, or the guy who said that was just ignorant, or there is a hidden agenda similar to that being discussed here.

a reply to: ArchPlayer

AAA ( yeah the car people) had an article this month in their online magazine about all the new intrusive technology that is being installed on new cars.
It`s bad enough that the new technology tracks your every move,knows how fast your driving etc it is sending all that information to a database somewhere.
I`ll try to find the link.

a reply to: Tardacus

Holy # dude...missed that article, please share it on this post. That should help with the hidden agenda going on behind such intrusive tech. Who the hell would want a car that could snitch on you to the police for tickets to be sent without contestion; I would probably say that if they could track your speed, it, like the cell could be manipulated as well for revenue purposes. Entire train of thought stinks to high hell.

a reply to: JiggyPotamus

Maybe we are getting to the point of the outsourcing the police with technology...next step ANDROIDS!

originally posted by: Tardacus
a reply to: ArchPlayer

AAA ( yeah the car people) had an article this month in their online magazine about all the new intrusive technology that is being installed on new cars.
It`s bad enough that the new technology tracks your every move,knows how fast your driving etc it is sending all that information to a database somewhere.
I`ll try to find the link.

Most technology is intrusive in some way. But, the things that are being marketed as a positive feature astounds me.

About those simple lil electric devices" Cell phones £.. Ok can you immagine how odd it would seem to not lose your phone its not a tattoo that you keep with you forever not even a child that you carry with you an raise someway or another.. its a smart phone so why is everyone losing their phone . I have lost my phones androids. Blackberryz you name a phone but ive always have found them gotten them back and last but not least broke them damn things because they wouldnt listen. But you gotta remember your smatee then that " so I on which regards would.like to say please take care of yourselves people so none of rhis could even assume to take place.. ATS. You people are great '''bye