Boris Johnson has called for all mobile phones sold in the UK to feature a 'kill siwtch', completely wiping them if they are lost or stolen.
The Mayor of London sent a letter to all major manufacturers - including Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry, HTC and Microsoft. It told manufacturers to be serious about your corporate responsibility' and 'help solve this problem'.
According to The Independent, Boris told the phone companies he wanted to ensure they were not benefitting from phone theft.
Mobile phone manufacturers have got in hot water in the past for allowing people to swap out phones that have been stolen for brand new devices, claiming they are damaged. Uninsured victims then have to pay for a whole new device, ensuring the mobile manufacturer makes more profit.
Apple and Samsung have developed the software in the US to stop devices being sold on when they are stolen. The software allows you to disable and wipe your device remotely. It would render a mobile phone useless until a login is entered and provides greater security that Apple's Find My iPhone becaiuse thieves can disable that pretty easily on the phone itself.
The software is being tested in San Francisco and New York in a campaign called 'Secure Our Smartphones'.
The Metropolitan Police said 10,000 handsets are stolen every month in London.
Johnson said, 'Customers and shareholders surely deserve to know that business cannot and must not benefit directly from smartphone theft through sales of replacement devices.'
by clareh via Featured Articles
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