U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar has written a letter to the CEOs of the country’s five largest wireless network operators requesting that they do more to help curb cell phone theft.
Klobuchar points out that nearly one-third of all robberies involves a cell phone, and stolen mobile devices take a $30 billion toll on consumers each year. Lawmakers in California and New York recently attempted to convince the carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless) to add kill switches to their devices. The tool would allow consumers whose devices are lost or stolen to permanently deactivate their phone.
Lawmakers believe that this will help curb the illegal resale of cell phones and eventually reduce robberies. Samsung developed such a kill switch, but carriers shot the idea down over fears of lost insurance revenue. “Your five companies [serve] more than 90 percent of the nation’s wireless subscribers,” wrote Klobuchar. “With that market share comes an obligation to do all you can to utilize technologies available to protect consumers. While I understand your companies are continuing to work with law enforcement on the stolen cell phone database, it is clear that consumers want and deserve a comprehensive strategy to prevent mobile device thefts.” Klobuchar asked the carriers to send her information about any offers made by handset makers to add kill switches, and why they didn’t adopt them; information on whether or not the carriers have considered devices with features similar to Apple’s activation lock; and details on how each company will include kill switches on future products at no cost to consumers. Klobuchar gave the carriers until January 9 to respond.
