Cell Phone Kill Switches Prompt 'Dramatic' Drop in Thefts

Smartphone thefts have declined "dramatically" in three major cities since manufacturers enabled "kill switch" features, according to officials.

Between January 2013 to December 2014, cell phone thefts dropped 16 percent in New York City, while iPhone-specific crimes in the Big Apple dropped 25 percent. In San Francisco, cell phone robberies dropped 27 percent, while iPhone thefts were down 40 percent.

Across the pond, London saw a 40 percent drop in smartphone thefts and a 38 percent drop in smartphone thefts involving violence or the threat of violence between October 2013 and October 2014. The monthly average for the number of phones stolen in London has halved since September 2013, resulting in 20,000 fewer victims annually, officials said today.

"We have made real progress in tackling the smartphone theft epidemic that was affecting many major cities just two years ago," London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement.

Mayor Johnson, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman teamed up in 2013 to combat cell phone theft and push "kill switch" technology.

"After meeting with families who have lost loved ones to violent robberies targeting their smartphones, we decided to raise the alarm about smartphone theft and called on the industry to adopt kill switch technology," Schneiderman said today.

California was the first U.S. state to require that "kill switches" be built into smartphones. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in August, requiring the anti-theft technology be added by July.

"The wireless industry continues to roll out sophisticated new features, but preventing their own customers from being the target of a violent crime is the coolest technology they can bring to market," Gascon said.

But thefts are declining even before the law goes into effect, simply because some manufacturers have already installed the software.

Apple's Activation Lock Feature, for example, launched in September 2013 with iOS 7. The security layer requires an Apple ID and password to reactivate a handset once it's been remotely wiped. By June 2014, iPhone thefts were already on the decline.

In April, Apple was joined by major handset makers and carriers—AT&T, Google, HTC, Motorola, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon—who all promised to integrate kill-switch technology into new handsets sometime this year.

"The significant decrease in smartphone thefts since the implementation of kill-switch technology is no coincidence," New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said. "Restricting the marketability of stolen cell phones and electronic devices has a direct correlation to a reduction of associated crimes and violence."

Congress has also gotten involved. Democrats in the House and Senate introduced the Smartphone Theft Prevention Act last year, which would have required devices sold in the country to include free software to let owners remotely wipe personal data, render the phone inoperable to outsiders, and prevent it from being activated by anyone else. Neither bill got much traction, but it seems the industry has moved ahead with its provisions anyway.