Klobuchar is leading legislation to combat cell phone theft and in June letter urged wireless industry to follow through on its commitment to prevent theft by providing anti-theft, “kill switch” type technology that allows users to wipe personal information from their device and render it inoperable to thieves

CTIA-The Wireless Association honored commitment by announcing new enhanced effort to help consumers combat cell phone theft 

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Following a call to action from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the wireless industry announced a new enhanced voluntary effort to help prevent cell phone theft. Klobuchar is leading legislation to combat cell phone theft and in a June letter, she urged the wireless industry to follow through on its commitment to provide anti-theft, “kill switch” type technology on cell phones to allow users the ability to wipe personal information from their device and render it inoperable to thieves. The CTIA–The Wireless Association announced a new enhanced effort to update the Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment and encourage the widespread adoption of anti-theft tools, which will be made available on all smartphones at no cost to U.S. consumers as of July 2016. 

“We need to continue to crack down on the criminals who are stealing and reselling cell phones, and this announcement from the wireless industry that it will be honoring its commitment to offer consumers anti-theft, ‘kill switch’ type technology moves us another step in that direction,” said Klobuchar. “While I am encouraged by this enhanced voluntary effort, more needs to be done to protect consumers, including passing my legislation to require that all phones sold in the U.S. include technology to protect consumers from theft.”

The following network operators, device manufacturers, and operating system companies are participating in the voluntary commitment: Apple Inc.; Assurant; Asurion; AT&T; BlackBerry; Google Inc.; HTC America Inc.; Huawei Device USA, Inc.; LGE Mobile Research U. S. A., LLC; Microsoft Corporation; Motorola Mobility LLC; Samsung Electronics America, Inc.; Sprint Corporation; T-Mobile USA; U.S. Cellular; Verizon; and ZTE USA Inc.

Klobuchar is a leader in efforts to prevent cell phone theft and protect consumers’ personal data. She has reintroduced the Smartphone Theft Prevention Act with Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), which 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 full text of Klobuchar’s June letter to CTIA-The Wireless Association President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker is available here.  

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