With cell phone thefts surging across the country, Klobuchar earlier this year introduced legislation calling on carriers to provide technological solutions that allow consumers to wipe personally identifiable information from their device and make it inoperable to thieves

Nearly one-in-three robberies involve cell phone theft, with criminals targeting smartphones for their high resale value and for the valuable personal and financial information they contain

Washington, DC – After a major push from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) to install kill switches on cell phones, Samsung today announced that the new Galaxy S 5 smartphone from Verizon and U.S. Cellular will include anti-theft, kill switch-type technology to help protect consumers’ personal information. With cell phone thefts surging across the country, Klobuchar earlier this year introduced legislation calling on carriers to provide technological solutions that allow consumers to wipe personally identifiable information from their device and make the device inoperable to thieves. The Smartphone Theft Prevention Act is supported by a broad coalition of key stakeholders including the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Major County Sheriffs’ Association, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, and Consumers Union. Nearly one-in-three robberies involve cell phone theft, with criminals targeting smartphones for their high resale value and for the valuable personal and financial information they contain.

“Today’s announcement from Samsung is an important step forward in the fight against cell phone theft, which is costing consumers more than $30 billion every year and endangering countless theft victims,” Klobuchar said. “We need to make sure that this technology is available for all consumers, and that’s why I will continue to work to pass my legislation so we can stop cell phone thefts and protect victims’ personal information.”

The Smartphone Theft Prevention Act, which Klobuchar introduced with Senators Mikulski (D-MD), Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), would require all phones sold in the United States to include kill switch type technology free of charge that would allow the consumer to wipe their personal data off the phone, render the phone permanently inoperable to anyone but the owner, and prevent it from being reactivated on a network by anyone but the owner.

The legislation is supported by the New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, founders of the Secure Our Smartphones Initiative, which is comprised of law enforcement agencies, elected leaders from across the country and consumer advocates. Additionally, the bill is supported by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Major County Sheriffs’ Association and Consumers Union.

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