The California Senate voted 27-8 Monday to clear...
The California Senate voted 27-8 Monday to clear an Assembly-passed version of SB-962, which would require smartphones sold in the state after July 1, 2015, to be pre-equipped with a kill switch that could be activated if the device is…
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lost or stolen. Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, has 12 days to consider the bill. A Brown spokesman declined to comment. The state Senate passed SB-962 in May, but the version the Assembly passed last week included additional amendments (CD Aug 8 p15). Democratic state Sen. Mark Leno, SB-962’s author, praised the Senate vote, saying in a news release that “our goal is to swiftly take the wind out of the sails of thieves who have made the theft of smartphones one of the most prevalent street crimes in California’s biggest cities.” San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, another major backer of the bill, said in a statement that the bill could result in smartphones nationwide having kill switches because of voluntary agreements from smartphone manufacturers.