Smartphone theft is a very common occurrence as they get more prevalent in our lives, take a look at your Facebook feed and chances are there will be one person losing their phone to a pickpocket or just sheer carelessness every month. While the fiscal pain you feel is definitely not easy to ignore, the scariest thing would most definitely be the data at the fingertips of the thief in question.
Apple, Google, Samsung, HTC and a host of other companies have entered into a voluntary agreement to add a global anti-theft “kill-switch” to their handsets from July next year. Devices on sale from July 2015 onward that support this kill switch will allow you to completely render the device inoperable on top of the usual remote data wipe. With the permission of the owner, the handset will be able to be reactivated.
While this isn’t global and is restricted to the US at the moment, this also represents a huge step forward for Smartphone companies and the industry as a whole. If this were implemented globally it would be a very welcome measure that will most definitely hamper would-be thieves, until they find a way around it of course.
(Source: Mashable)
