A plethora of big names in the mobile phone industry including Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft, HTC, Huawei and Motorola have announced they will back anti-phone-theft measures. The companies have banded together voluntarily agreeing to add anti-theft technology on all smartphones starting next year according to Re/Code.
The new pledge states that every smartphone sold after July 2015 will have a feature for every user to remotely brick their device if lost or stolen. Users will also have the option to wipe their devices to prevent it from being reactivated without the owners permission.
These features are showing up on more and more smartphones as the rise of smartphone and computer theft continue to grow.
While a number of local and state lawmakers have praised the agreement others such as California state Sen. Mark Leno does not and proposes a mandatory kill switch for stolen or lost smartphones.
“The wireless industry today has taken an incremental yet inadequate step to address the epidemic of smartphone theft,” Leno said in a statement. “Only weeks ago, they claimed that the approach they are taking today was infeasible and counterproductive. While I am encouraged they are moving off of that position so quickly, today’s ‘opt-in’ proposal misses the mark if the ultimate goal is to combat street crime and violent thefts involving smartphones and tablets.”
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