SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A trade group for wireless providers
said Tuesday that that nation’s biggest mobile device manufacturers and
carriers will soon put anti-theft tools on the gadgets to try to deter
rampant smartphone theft.
CTIA-The Wireless Association announced
that under a "Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment," the companies
including Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Verizon Wireless,
AT&T Inc., U.S. Cellular Corp., Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc.
have agreed to provide a free preloaded or downloadable anti-theft tool
on smartphones sold in the U.S. after July 2015.
Owners’ options
will include remotely removing a smartphone’s data and preventing
reactivation if a phone is stolen or lost, the association said.
It
appears the wireless industry has somewhat reversed course as law
enforcement and elected officials in the U.S. demand that manufacturers
implement a "kill switch" to combat surging smartphone theft across the
country. Industry officials have previously said putting a permanent
kill switch on phones has serious risks, including the potential that
hackers could activate it.
"We appreciate the commitment made by
these companies to protect wireless users in the event their smartphones
are lost or stolen," CTIA CEO Steve Largent said in a written
statement. "This flexibility provides consumers with access to the best
features and apps that fit their unique needs while protecting their
smartphones and the valuable information they contain. At the same time,
it’s important different technologies are available so that a ‘trap
door’ isn’t created that could be exploited by hackers and criminals."
The
wireless industry’s announcement comes nearly two weeks after Samsung
announced that it added two anti-theft features, "Find My Mobile" and
"Reactivation Lock" to its recently released Galaxy S5 smartphone.
Apple
created a similar "Activation Lock" feature for the popular iPhone last
year and has offered a free tool called "Find My iPhone."
Almost
one in three robberies in the U.S. involve phone theft, according to the
Federal Communications Commission. Lost and stolen mobile devices —
mostly smartphones — cost consumers more than $30 billion in 2012, the
agency said in a study.
Earlier this month, California legislators
introduced a bill that, if passed, would require mobile devices sold in
or shipped to the state be equipped with the anti-theft devices
starting next year — a move that could be the first of its kind in the
United States.
Similar legislation is being considered in New York,
Illinois and Minnesota, and bills have been introduced in both houses of
Congress.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and New
York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who have given the
manufacturers a June deadline to find solutions to curb smartphone
theft, said in a joint statement Tuesday that while CTIA’s plan is "a
welcomed step," it still falls short of effectively ending smartphone
theft because the measures will rely on consumers to seek out and turn
on the technology.
Gascon added, "This approach is a losing
strategy, and that’s why this commitment falls short of what American
wireless consumers need to effectively end the epidemic of smartphone
theft."
But Jeff Kagan, a longtime tech analyst in Atlanta, said
Tuesday that the wireless industry’s commitment may be the closest to
solving the smartphone theft problem. He believes the industry’s
commitment occurred because they saw that government is in the process
of making sweeping changes.
"I’m sure there will be a lot of back
and forth, but this is the next natural step," Kagan said. "I don’t
think the wireless industry would’ve done this if there wasn’t pressure
from lawmakers and the public to come up with some solutions. Sometimes
it takes a nudge."
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