The sponsor of a California Senate bill that...

The sponsor of a California Senate bill that would have required smartphones in the state to come with a theft-deterring “kill switch” said he will try again after SB-962 (http://bit.ly/1puAfHp) failed in a 19-17 floor vote Thursday. The bill could be brought back up for reconsideration by the end of May, said Democratic Sen. Mark Leno in a news release. The measure would have required all smartphones sold in California to come pre-equipped with technology to render the device useless if stolen. It was prompted by concerns about an increase in smartphone thefts. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón in a joint release with Leno called Thursday’s vote “disheartening given the level of victimization.” The vote was praised by the CTIA, which had opposed the measure. Its news release cited an April 15 announcement (http://bit.ly/1mcQOmq) of the “Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment” (CD April 17 p10), in which several companies said new models of smartphones manufactured after July 2015 will have a preloaded or downloadable tool that would wipe out the authorized user’s personal data if reported lost or stolen. It would also render the smartphone inoperable to unauthorized users and prevent reactivation without the user’s permission. Leno criticized the proposal because customers would have to “opt-in” by activating the feature.