Why Mobile Providers Object to the Cell Phone "Kill" Switch

 









 Despite calls for a permanent "kill" switch on cell phones to discourage or prevent phone theft, mobile carriers have resisted. They claim that such a switch could enable hackers to disable groups of phones forever, including phones used by law enforcement. It would also prevent subscribers from reawakening recovered phones even to make emergency calls, incurring additional costs. Instead, this item reports that the mobile industry group CTIA has recommended taking advantage of existing apps and tracking technology and also increasing criminal penalties for cellphone theft, so that — for example — tampering with a phone's identification number would become a federal crime.