#kill switch

The recent issue on "Kill Switch" being pushed by the Department of Justice is aimed to protect security and privacy of mobile phone users. No more legislation is required for this kill switch measure to be implemented, according to Sec. The "kill switch" serves as an emergency stop or safety mechanism to shut off devices and erase its memory from a distance in cases when they are lost or stolen. This mechanism will also deter theft as the device will be unusable once the kill switch is activated. Globe Telecom pointed out that the issue of “Kill Switch” is primarily a responsibility of the device manufacturers and not the telco providers. Yoly Crisanto, Globe SVP for Corporate Communications, said that device manufacturers should enable its smartphone devices to have the “Kill Switch” feature. In the US, it took a year for all 13 companies comprised of mobile phone manufacturers and telco providers to agree to offer the Kill Switch technology which will be implemented by mid of 2015 that would allow customers to wipe data from their devices remotely and render them inoperable when stolen. The "Kill Switch" feature pre-activates this feature prior to shipping and will included even non-smartphone devices. Read more in our articles including "Telco points "Kill Switch" is device manufacturers' responsibility" and "Mozilla Firefox adds AI “kill switch” on its browser".