So, after 3 years with my old Samsung, it was time to upgrade to a new smartphone. While I was in the process of setting up my new phone, I came across the ubiquitous "Kill Switch". When I first wrote about this feature, I thought it was the perfection solution for those of us who fear the prospect of the personal information on our smartphones falling into the wrong hands. But, for the first time, I was being asked to decide whether or not I wanted to opt-in to this feature - which, as my phone describes:
"Allow remote lock and erase
If you lose your device, you can remotely lock or factory reset it with Android Device Manager"
Now that I am faced with this choice, all I could think about were the family pictures, contacts, everything else that is stored on my device being erased - as in gone forever. Let's just be honest, the thought of that scared the heck out of me; and so, in the end, I just couldn't check the Kill Switch box!
After that fateful event this past weekend, I once again came across news about the Kill Switch laws that are sweeping the country. First it was Minnesota, and now it seems that that California is about to pass its own law wherein after July, 2015, "instead of simply offering the kill switch, manufacturers would be obligated to walk consumers through the setup process when they purchase a new smartphone." I think this is smart because the Kill Switch on my phone was not the easiest thing to find. (And this is from someone who knew what to look for!)
I know that studies have shown that having the Kill Switch on smartphones is an effective way to "take the wind out of the sails of thieves". However, from my own personal experience, I now realize that every smartphone owner should get the right to choose whether or not they are willing to sacrifice the information saved on their device for this purpose. Thankfully, unlike some previous incarnations of this bill, this new California law will not actually have the manufacturers automatically turn on the Kill Switch. Instead, as consumers, you will be given everything you need to make an informed choice.
