- Start
- Jul 31, 201525% CONFIDENCELow confidencefrom the source
California Law Now Requires All Smartphones to Have Built-In Kill Switches By July 2015
- California SB-962, requiring smartphone kill switches, was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on 25 August 2014[1][2][3]
- It applies to smartphones manufactured on or after 1 July 2015 and sold in California, which must include a technological solution at the time of sale that can render the phone inoperable to an unauthorized user[2][3]
- The feature must survive a hard reset or OS downgrade, prevent reactivation on a wireless network except by the authorized user, be enabled at initial setup, and be reversible by the owner[1]
- Co-sponsored by San Francisco DA George Gascon and Senator Mark Leno; every statewide law enforcement organization supported it, while AT&T and other telecom companies opposed it[1][2]
- SB 962 passed the Senate 26-8-6 in May and the Assembly 53-20-6 on 7 August, with the Senate concurring on 11 August[2]
- MacRumors said Apple's Activation Lock likely satisfies the law, while makers like Samsung and Microsoft would be affected; Minnesota was the only other state with such a law[1]
- Apple products saw a 38% drop in robberies in the six months after it introduced a kill switch feature[3]
References 327% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]25%macrumors.com/2014/08/25/california-kill-switch-lawmacrumors.com· Posted Jun 15, 2017· Starts Jul 31, 2015 ✓· 96% of score
Date has passed, but macrumors.com does not confirm it happened then; unverified.
- [2]80%SB 962: Governor Signs Smartphone Kill Switch Legislationconsumercal.org· Published Aug 26, 2014· 2% of score
Consumer Attorneys of California's own page confirms Governor Brown signed SB 962 into law on 25 August 2014, requiring kill switches on smartphones 'manufactured after July 1, 2015' - explaining the pin's stored 31 July 2015 date as the law's effective compliance deadline rather than the 2014 signing date.[1]
- [3]78%California smartphone 'kill switch' bill signed into lawventurebeat.com· Published Aug 25, 2014· 2% of score
VentureBeat's own reporting (25 August 2014) confirms California's kill-switch bill was signed into law that day, with the antitheft requirement applying to phones 'manufactured on or after July 1, 2015' - matching the pin's stored 31 July 2015 effective date.
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