‘More Action Is Needed’ on Cellphone Theft, Klobuchar Tells Carriers
The head of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee said cellphone theft is a competition issue, and pressed carriers on their efforts to prevent it. Consumers face a significant public safety and monetary threat, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Monday, issuing a press release and sending a letter to five companies, requesting answers to several questions by Jan. 9. She’s also on the Commerce Committee.
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"The status quo is not acceptable” and “more action is needed,” Klobuchar told the heads of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular (http://1.usa.gov/1dleHoq). “I expect wireless carriers to compete against one another to ensure consumers are offered the most advanced security features and offerings.”
On Nov. 27, CTIA said a coalition of its members, police chiefs and the FCC had created a global database to help prevent smartphone theft (CD Dec 2 p9). The coalition had beat its Nov. 30 deadline for that database’s creation, which it set in April 2012. Hill pressure had been high then. Klobuchar cited these efforts but said “it is clear that consumers want and deserve a comprehensive strategy to prevent mobile device thefts.”
Klobuchar’s letter asked several questions. She wants the carriers to let her subcommittee know “whether you have had offers by handset manufacturers to install ‘kill switch’ technology, and, if so, why your company has or has not adopted such technology,” it said. She also requested any information about whether the carriers weighed including such a kill switch update on handsets competing with Apple’s iPhone activation lock technology, similar to such a kill switch. She asked how each carrier plans to include these features without cost to consumers going forward “and how your phone security offerings differ from your competitors.” She called the issue a “top priority” for her.
"Verizon Wireless supports a free ‘kill switch’ application for Android devices,” a Verizon Wireless spokeswoman told us in an emailed statement. “However, no manufacturer has yet made one available to us and press reports to the contrary are inaccurate. Once a manufacturer provides us an Android ‘kill switch’ that is free to consumers we will work to provide it to our customers.” The spokeswoman said the company is reviewing the letter and will respond as appropriate.
AT&T declined comment for now, pointing to how recently the letter was sent. Sprint declined comment Monday but plans to respond by Klobuchar’s Jan. 9 deadline, a spokesman said. Other carriers did not comment, nor did CTIA.
"Anti-theft features are more relevant for device makers to provide,” BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk told us by email, “not the service providers which Senator Klobuchar targeted with her letter. In fact, Apple’s recent free update to iOS 7 added many security features and their newest phone includes a finger print scanner. American consumers are likely more concerned about the rising cost of wireless data as usage continues to rise with the growing popularity of mobile video."
State officials have also pressured carriers on theft recently. California state Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat, will introduce a bill in early January “that addresses the epidemic of smartphone theft by requiring the implementation of theft deterring technological solutions, also known as a kill switch, which render phones inoperable if they are stolen,” he said in a press release Dec. 19 (http://bit.ly/1dPx4zF). He’s working with San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, Leno’s office said. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent a letter to several carriers Dec. 11 pressing on these same broader questions surrounding smartphone theft, with responses from carriers due Tuesday, his office said (http://bit.ly/1dlhz4x). The kill switch would be “a simple yet effective way to protect subscribers,” Schneiderman said in the letter.
Klobuchar referred to FCC data that say nearly one in three robberies involve phone theft, which costs consumers more than $30 billion annually. “I've heard from local law enforcement officials about the continued call for the wireless industry to engage with them further and to adopt ‘kill switch’ technologies on devices,” she said. “Additionally, state Attorneys General have suggested that wireless carriers have not taken adequate steps to fight cell phone theft.”
Multiple pieces of legislation in Congress have addressed the broader issues, Klobuchar’s release said, pointing to her bills, the Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act and the Wireless Consumer Choice Act. On Dec. 19, Klobuchar co-sponsored the Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Mobile Device Theft Deterrence Act, joining three other Democratic cosponsors. In mid-2013, Schumer, D-N.Y., reintroduced the Mobile Device Theft Deterrence Act, S-1070, which now awaits action in the Judiciary Committee. CTIA also recently reiterated its support. “We also strongly support and need Senator Schumer’s legislation to pass that would impose tough penalties on those who steal devices or modify them illegally since it would help dry up the market for those who traffic in stolen devices,” CTIA President Steve Largent said in a statement when the association announced the database. (jhendel@warren-news.com)