Smartphones have become a massively popular tool in the past few years. This popularity has also resulted in a huge surge in phone thefts. Apple, Google and Microsoft have now signed an anti-phone-theft pledge to tackle this problem.
We have seen frequent instances in the past where smartphones are either stolen or snatched, given the fact that many high-end smartphones have rather lucrative price tags. Several companies have tried to resolve this issue on their own by offering anti-theft tools.
Apple, for instance, offers the ‘Find My iPhone‘ feature which enables a user to locate his or her iPhone in case of loss and possibly wipe the data from it remotely so that whoever finds it is unable to exploit that data. Similarly, Google has pushed its ‘Android Device Manager‘ feature to its Android users. The feature allows locating an Android handset, bricking it so that it can no longer be used and also wiping away its contents.
However, many other smartphone vendors have to follow up with similar options to save their users from phone theft. Law enforcement agencies have long been pushing for an industry-wide standardization which would ensure that all handsets come with the option of locating, recovering or wiping a lost handset.
Apple, Google, Microsoft, HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Huawei have already signed a pledge which promises a standardization of the said feature. The standardization is expected to be implemented by July 2015, after which we may see a significant drop in the number of smartphone thefts.
Source: Re/Code
Courtesy: The Verge
[ttjad keyword=”social-media-samrtphones”]
This is only called “anti-theft kill switch” to gain acceptance from the public for something that is really only for the benefit of big brother having one more way to silence dissidents, political opponents and whistleblowers.