Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

'Kill switch' may be standard on U.S. phones in 2015
CNN ^ | April 16, 2014 | Doug Gross

Posted on 04/16/2014 4:01:05 PM PDT by kingattax

(CNN) -- The "kill switch," a system for remotely disabling smartphones and wiping their data, will become standard in 2015, according to a pledge backed by most of the mobile world's major players.

Apple, Google, Samsung and Microsoft, along with the five biggest cellular carriers in the United States, are among those that have signed on to a voluntary program announced Tuesday by the industry's largest trade group.

All smartphones manufactured for sale in the United States after July 2015 must have the technology, according to the program from CTIA-The Wireless Association.

Advocates say the feature would deter thieves from taking mobile devices by rendering phones useless while allowing people to protect personal information if their phone is lost or stolen. Its proponents include law enforcement officials concerned about the rising problem of smartphone theft.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: apple; google; killswitch; microsoft; samsung; smartphones; voluntary
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last
To: kingattax

Gee, I wonder what will be happening in 2015...


21 posted on 04/16/2014 4:54:18 PM PDT by cld51860 (Oderint dum metuant)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fai Mao

No modern smartphone has an actual off switch.

They just go into a sleep mode and wake up constantly looking for a button press or whatever.

Lots of electronic items nowadays don’t really turn off.

Sorta like how your TV remotes never turn off..they just sleep like the smartphones do.


22 posted on 04/16/2014 5:09:51 PM PDT by Bobalu (Four Cokes And A Fried Chicken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Nowhere Man

There were car phones in the fifties and maybe before. See them in old movies sometimes.

I would guess the service was very localised though.


23 posted on 04/16/2014 5:39:30 PM PDT by Rockpile
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: umgud

LMAO!


24 posted on 04/16/2014 5:43:14 PM PDT by gibsosa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: KarlInOhio

“Expect that law enforcement will issue a blanket “wipe” order for all phones used by patriots and bystanders in areas like the Bundy Ranch so all communications, pictures, videos and voice records will be gone. At a bare minimum, store everything to removable media and swap those out regularly. “

The first thought of many including me.


25 posted on 04/16/2014 6:03:15 PM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Fai Mao
A easy way around this. Do not keep your phone turned on.

They can’t wipe it if they can’t find it.

Sorry, but the tracking part of your phone is always on. Cannot be turned off by you. Your phone is constantly reporting your position.

Only way I know to defeat this is to block the phone's transmissions by putting the phone in a Faraday cage. A shiny mylar package used for potato chips will work. Test this: put you phone in a bag like that and call it. It won't answer because the cell network can't find it.

More info.

This is reason #16 why I do not have and prolly never will have a cell phone.

26 posted on 04/16/2014 6:28:18 PM PDT by upchuck (Support ABLE, the Anybody But Lindsey Effort. Yes, we are the ABLE!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: upchuck

I have a very old non-smart phone.

It does have a camera but no GPS and can be turned off. It can also have the battery removed

I hate to be a Luddite but I refuse to be a slave to my technology


27 posted on 04/16/2014 6:34:29 PM PDT by Fai Mao (Genius at Large)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: kingattax

Once the government put a kill switch on us with Obamacare, why not go after our phones too. Next, kill switch on cars, computers, thermostat, radio, TV, internet.


28 posted on 04/16/2014 6:48:35 PM PDT by 12th_Monkey (One man one vote is a big fail, when the "one" man is an idiot.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

bfl


29 posted on 04/16/2014 7:16:29 PM PDT by Faith65 (Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Rockpile

I’ve seen pictures of them from the mid 1940’s on. The first phones, you had to call the radio operator first and give your callsign and IIRC, you had to say “over” to hear the other side talk. Later on, you had direct dialing. I used to pick them up in the 35/43 Mc, 152 Mc and 454 Mc bands on my police scanner. A lot of pagers were there too, especially 35 Mc, I used to hear the “bleep bleeps” and then the voice message. There is an amateur radio operator that even has recordings of pagers and mobile phone from the late 1960’s and 1970’s.


30 posted on 04/16/2014 7:53:32 PM PDT by Nowhere Man (Mom I miss you! (8-20-1938 to 11-18-2013) Cancer sucks)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: bigbob; Idaho_Cowboy

Hammer? Magnet? likely won’t do much. Makes it harder to access the data, but your data is stored on tiny robust components. Transplant the “flash memory” chips to another device (not easy, but doable) and we’ll be reviewing your texts, emails, and browser history soon enough to use against you.


31 posted on 04/16/2014 8:23:14 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (Before you can find the right hill, someone will start watering trees. Prepare accordingly.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: kingattax

Didn’t the father of a young woman who was killed for her cell phone begin the push for this?


32 posted on 04/16/2014 8:29:19 PM PDT by pax_et_bonum (Never Forget the Seals of Extortion 17 - and God Bless America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fai Mao

“Do not keep your phone turned on. ... Or do the latest versions not have an on/off switch?”

Aye, there’s the rub. Modern computers (smartphones included) are rather hard to “turn off”. There’s an assortment of power-saving states that look like it’s off, but never actually be off. The iMac instruction manual actually says that if you truly need to “turn it off” you _must_ unplug it; anything with a non-removable battery may very well running to some degree so long as the battery is not flat dead. As time goes on, these things stay on ever more persistently.

And, considering the post you’re replying to, it’s not gonna do you much good as a communications or recording device if it’s off. When it’s on, it’s subject to the “kill” signal.

There should be (and I’m tempted to make one if there isn’t) apps for robustly transmitting audio/video to secured (encrypted, protected, and legally-bound) remote data storage. Given the scenario, methinks that should include short-range (direct-wifi or bluetooth) transmission to wireless storage devices. All smashing or “kill-switching” one should do is record the act thereof as evidence.


33 posted on 04/16/2014 8:32:48 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (Before you can find the right hill, someone will start watering trees. Prepare accordingly.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: grobdriver

Many of us have video cameras independent of cell phones. No “kill switch” effect there. If you’re deliberately joining such an incident, you’ll likely have time to grab it (or even buy one quick from darn near any electronics store, Walmart included) - if only for the much better optical zoom, as anything interesting may easily be too far for a cell phone camera to record well.


34 posted on 04/16/2014 8:37:04 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (Before you can find the right hill, someone will start watering trees. Prepare accordingly.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Political Junkie Too

Or to shut down video by the ubiquitous smart phone at locations like a cattle operation in Nevada?


35 posted on 04/16/2014 8:52:14 PM PDT by Ozark Tom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ctdonath2

Need private network and secure link out of controlled area to document the play-by-play.


36 posted on 04/16/2014 9:01:28 PM PDT by Ozark Tom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Nowhere Man

35 to 43 Mhz? Hmm, then the military FM radios would have been able to pick up the transmissions. We could get channels 2 thru 6 TV audio bands but there was never anything on worth listening to ;)


37 posted on 04/16/2014 9:20:39 PM PDT by Rockpile
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Ozark Tom
Somebody should get a case in front of the Supreme Court arguing that a kill switch in phones for the police is unconstitutional, and a ban on these phones in the USA results.

It would be a violation of a person's first amendment right to peaceably assemble, if the police can instantly isolate you from everyone else by disabling your phone because they fear that you will expose what they're doing.

A police force that has secrets becomes a secret police.

-PJ

38 posted on 04/16/2014 9:31:44 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: kingattax

Surely the government would never abuse this.


39 posted on 04/16/2014 9:32:11 PM PDT by dfwgator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kingattax

Why? Is this a big problem? Are the street rampant with phone thieves??

My goodness.

One of the great things about modern communications technology is that it is cheap and easily replaceable.
Why do we need MANDATORY features on a phone? If the people want it, they’ll buy it. If you don’t want that kind of feature on a phone, do NOT buy it.


40 posted on 04/17/2014 2:24:45 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson