10 things to know about the smartphone kill switch

Discussion in 'hardware' started by ronjor, Jun 25, 2014.

  1. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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  2. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    Great!..Now the drug addicts will have to steal a lot more of something else from more victims to support their habit.

    Protecting data on a stolen phone is excellent but to use cutting down on theft of smartphones as a justification is ridiculous. Overall other crimes of theft, larcency, and robbery will likely increase.

    Those without money need to eat, the drug addict will always need more money for his next fix. If not by theft of high value smartphones then by theft of more of something else.

    I have checked the NYC Police statistics. Unfortunatley they are only posted for the latest week, but those posted for Manhattan show a pattern of the same or less robberies but increases of grand larceny (as large as a 150 percent increase in some precincts in Manhattan) for last week year to year.
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2014
  3. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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  4. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    Here where i live they even kill you for smartphones and it happens a lot. :eek:
     
  5. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    I have no doubt that those using a smartphone have been easy targets for violent robberies. Definitely more profitable than old fashioned low-tech purse snatching. But my point is that while the NYC experience with a drop in smartphone theft since Apple's introduction of the kill switch shows that the kill switch has lead to a dramatic drop in the rate of smartphone theft, the criminals who preyed on smartphone users will by necessity find another avenue of getting money by another illegal means, and not necessarily less violent ones.

    A large percentage of street theft in the inner cities is done by drug junkies to get funds to support their habit. While I am in favor of the kill switch for protecting private data, to use cutting down on crime as a reason to justify mandatory kill switches is BS. It's a publicity stunt to show how NYC police are cutting down on crime, while all they are doing is shifting the targeting of victims. IMHO. And thereby shifting the targeted class away from the more affluent who along with drug dealers are the most likely to be displaying smartphones. The kill switch is an excellent idea but over the long run it ain't gonna do much to cut down on violent crime. There are no natural born robbers. Societal, lack of opportunity, racism, and economic factors breed criminals -- not smartphones.

    Why don't they mandate kill switches in autos to cut down on car theft and violent car jackings too?

    Maybe some smart techie will invent a tiny remote detonating explosive that peeps could insert into their valuable posessions. That would work.

    If the authorities were sincere in cutting down on violent theft they would legalize and control the sale of drugs and use all that wasted drug war money for rehabilitation and education about the dangers of addictive drugs and how they destroy lives. That's the major root cause of violent crime.

    Kill Switches - Much Ado About Nothing.

    May God and Kill Switches keep smartphone users from harm.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2014
  6. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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  7. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    http://www.theatlantic.com/business...rizing-language-of-stolen-smartphones/379389/
     
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