Starting next summer, a new law will require every smartphone sold in California to include a so-called kill switch, which renders the device unusable if it is reported lost or stolen. The iPhone already supports that feature, and the company recently released a tool to check whether an Apple device has the kill switch turned on.
With the tool, available on Apple’s iCloud website and first reported by the iDownloadBlog, users can enter a device’s serial number or the so-called IMEI, another unique identification number assigned to each phone. The web tool will say whether the kill switch feature, called Activation Lock, is enabled.
If a device still has Activation Lock turned on, that could mean it has been reported lost or stolen, or the owner has simply forgotten to deactivate the feature before putting it up for sale. With Activation Lock turned on, the device could be unusable without the Apple username and password of the owner.
That comes in handy in a few cases. People buying a used iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch via eBay or Craigslist, for example, can ask for the identification number of the device before agreeing to buy it. Resellers, or businesses that buy used phones, could also require sellers to share the identification number of each iPhone so they can check whether the device has Activation Lock turned on before offering to buy it.
Apple introduced Activation Lock last year amid complaints from law enforcement authorities that phone carriers and technology companies were not trying hard enough to combat cellphone theft, which has become a frequent urban crime.
In August, Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed the measure requiring all smartphones sold in California to include a kill switch.
Microsoft and Google have said they plan to introduce the antitheft tool in future versions of their mobile software systems.