The sophistication and proliferation of advanced technology, particularly smartphones, has led to an increase in theft of these items. Companies created “kill switches” in hopes that this anti-theft method will protect smartphone customers. Lawmakers are scrambling to develop effective and relevant kill switch laws to curb this criminal activity. This Note addresses two recent legislative attempts, from Minnesota and California, and postulates that a hybrid of the two statutes is necessary to create a more comprehensive and useful tool to aid the government, technology companies, and consumers.
The full text of this Note is available to download as a PDF.