Major Cell Phone Manufacturers Pledge to Support Anti-Theft Technology

In April 2014, AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Sprint joined forces with a host of well-known platform vendors and smartphone manufacturers in order to endorse anti-theft measures.

This year, major mobile manufacturers and wireless carriers announced a voluntary agreement to strengthen anti-theft technology for their devices after July 2015 and that is free of cost to the consumers. As reported by Re/code, Apple, HTC, Assurant, Asurion, Google, Microsoft, Blackberry, Samsung, LG, and ZTE have ensured that users can render their devices inoperable following loss or theft, with an option of restoring the functionality when the device is recovered. The largest U.S. carrier signatories have agreed and pledged to facilitate these efforts.

This agreement came across as several local and state governments of the U.S. considered a legislative approach in dealing with cell phone theft. California State Senator Mark Leno previously proposed a mandatory kill switch requirement for his state that has been as acknowledged as an “incremental, yet adequate step” by him.

Senator Leno also explained why the majority should have access to the kill-switch feature so as to reduce crime linked with mobile thefts. This voluntary agreement to support such a feature is just one piece and not the whole solution of the problem.

On the contrary, the President of CTIA,Steve Largent, praised the agreement by stating ”We appreciate the commitment made by these companies to protect wireless users in the event their smartphones are lost or stolen. This flexibility provides consumers with access to the best features and apps that fit their unique needs while protecting their smartphones and the valuable information they contain. At the same time, it’s important that different technologies are available so that a ‘trap door’ isn’t created that could be exploited by hackers and criminals.”

Although worldwide, support for cell phone anti-theft procedures is currently lacking. Few organizations have already begun to practice robust anti-theft measures.