California leaders outline proposed ‘kill switch’ bill

Officials in California are set to outline proposed legislation requiring smartphones to have a “kill switch” that would render stolen or lost devices inoperable.

State Senator Mark Leno, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, and other officials on Friday are scheduled to discuss details of the bill that would require any mobile devices sold in or shipped to California to have built-in anti-theft devices.

They believe the bill, which Leno plans to introduce this spring, will be the first of its kind in the country.

The wireless industry says a kill switch isn’t the answer because it could allow hackers to disable phones belonging to individuals and government and law enforcement agencies. The industry, working with the government, developed a national stolen phones database that started running in November.