City Kill Switch Law Proposed in San Francisco

A San Francisco supervisor is proposing legislation requiring smartphones and other mobile devices sold in the city to be equipped with a “kill switch” to render them inoperable if lost or stolen.

Supervisor London Breed’s local proposal on Tuesday comes two days before the California state Senate is set to reconsider a bill that would require the technology for all phones sold in California. Her ordinance will be modeled after proposed legislation sponsored by State Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco that fell two votes short of passing two weeks ago.

Authorities say nearly 70 percent of all robberies in San Francisco this year have involved smartphone theft. District Attorney George Gascon and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have spearheaded national efforts and given manufacturers a June deadline to find solutions to curb smartphone theft.