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ALBANY - State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's effort to pressure smartphone manufacturers to better protect consumers against theft has picked up support from 30 other state attorneys general .
The group plans to send a letter Tuesday to major smartphone manufacturers urging them to install software that would make it difficult for thieves to scrub stolen devices clean and re-sell them on the black market.
The letter notes that South Korea has a "kill switch" allowing stolen smartphones to be permanently disabled, which "raises the questions as to what the manufacturers are capable of doing if one country has already mandated a more robust response."
The letter will be sent to executives at Google/Motorola, Microsoft and Samsung.
Apple, which is said to have been cooperating more than its counterparts, was excluded.
The letter states that the coalition in July tested new smartphone security features introduced by Apple and Samsung.
"While some of these new anti-theft security features are encouraging, the response from manufacturers needs to be more robust," the letter says.
Some of the features are said to have opt-out components or require consumers to pay for them, lessening their effectiveness, the AGs wrote.
Schneiderman’s Secure Our Smartphones initiative has the backing of an array of public officials around the world, including the San Francisco district attorney and London’s mayor.
Among the 31 attorneys general now involved in the effort is Delaware's Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Biden.
The initiative is intended to crack down on the theft known as "Apple Picking" — the fastest-growing street crime in New York City. Schneiderman says 20% of the robberies committed in 2012 in the city involved smartphones and tablets, a 40% increase from the year before.
Last week, a 36-year-old man was brutally beaten by a half a dozen teens for his iPhone.
"Manufacturers and carriers need to put the public safety before corporate profits and stop this violent epidemic," Schneiderman said in a statement.
The group plans to send a letter Tuesday to major smartphone manufacturers urging them to install software that would make it difficult for thieves to scrub stolen devices clean and re-sell them on the black market.
The letter notes that South Korea has a "kill switch" allowing stolen smartphones to be permanently disabled, which "raises the questions as to what the manufacturers are capable of doing if one country has already mandated a more robust response."
The letter will be sent to executives at Google/Motorola, Microsoft and Samsung.
Apple, which is said to have been cooperating more than its counterparts, was excluded.
The letter states that the coalition in July tested new smartphone security features introduced by Apple and Samsung.
"While some of these new anti-theft security features are encouraging, the response from manufacturers needs to be more robust," the letter says.
Some of the features are said to have opt-out components or require consumers to pay for them, lessening their effectiveness, the AGs wrote.
Schneiderman’s Secure Our Smartphones initiative has the backing of an array of public officials around the world, including the San Francisco district attorney and London’s mayor.
Among the 31 attorneys general now involved in the effort is Delaware's Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Biden.
The initiative is intended to crack down on the theft known as "Apple Picking" — the fastest-growing street crime in New York City. Schneiderman says 20% of the robberies committed in 2012 in the city involved smartphones and tablets, a 40% increase from the year before.
Last week, a 36-year-old man was brutally beaten by a half a dozen teens for his iPhone.
"Manufacturers and carriers need to put the public safety before corporate profits and stop this violent epidemic," Schneiderman said in a statement.
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