A June 19, 2014, New York times Article reported that the introduction of “kill switches” on cell phones has dramatically decreased the theft rate of phones that have “kill switches” technology. According to the Attorney General in New York the Times reported that the theft rate for Apple products  dropped by 29% while Samsung increased by 51% compared to one year earlier. Samsung has just introduced a kill switch from its Galaxy S5 so it will be some time before we know what impact it will have on theft rates.

This is an issue that the public can have  an impact by insisting that the industry move faster by urging Congress to adopt a uniform standard so that all cell phones have “kill switches.” Of course, customers can also influence this process by refusing to buy cell phones without a kill switch.