Apple and Google are being strongly encouraged by U.S. officials to ramp up efforts to reduce the rampant wave of smartphone-related crime sweeping the United States.
The Washington Post reported this week that top law enforcement officials from San Francisco and New York “plan to meet with some of the nation’s largest smartphone makers next week to help thwart the rise in cellphone thefts and robberies.”
This meeting will convene in New York City on June 13th. It will be called the “Smartphone Summit.”
“With 1.6 million Americans falling victim to smartphone theft in 2012, this has become a national epidemic,” said San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón. “Unlike other types of crimes, smartphone theft can be eradicated with a simple technological solution.”
Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung will be asked to begin designing their phones and operating systems so that they contain a so-called “kill switch.”
“The theft of handheld devices is the fastest-growing street crime, and increasingly, incidents are turning violent,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman added in a statement. “It’s time for manufacturers to be as innovative in solving this problem as they have been in designing devices that have reshaped how we live.”
