Securing smartphones - Making thieves redundant

Smartphone theft accounts for 30% to 40% of all American urban crime according to the Federal Communications Commission.

A third of all Europeans have had their smartphone stolen. The consequences go far beyond the monetary value of the gadget as most of us now depend utterly on the digital do-everything tablet to get through our day. The inconvenience of losing it far outweighs the replacement cost. That dependency will grow as ever fewer aspects of life escape the reach of the flashing, bleeping, and ever-present life companion.

That reality has been recognised by California’s legislators who have passed a law making a “kill switch” mandatory on all phones sold from July. Versions of this are already available, but require users to activate the feature after buying the smartphone. Under the new law, owners will be able to turn off the smartphone remotely, rendering it worthless to thieves. This will, as statistics already show, make the business of stealing smartphones far less attractive.

Of course this facility could be extended to a whole range of goods, everything from laptops, to televisions and even cars. This would have profound consequences for the insurance industry, because who would bother to insure something against theft if stealing it was pointless?

It seems, once again, that the interests of the financial services sector and consumers might be in conflict.