Future smartphones released by tech giants Microsoft and Google will include a “kill switch” feature that would allow users to disable the devices if they're lost or stolen.
Upcoming Microsoft devices will include additional security features that will allow for remote data wiping, render the device inoperable, and prevent reactivation, according to a blog post by Fred Humphries, vice president with U.S. government affairs at Microsoft.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Google announced that it will implement “factory reset protection solution” in the next version of its smartphone device.
Mobile phone manufacturers have been urged by state and city comptrollers, police chiefs, and consumer advocates to build these features into devices. Apple was the first to do so in September 2013, and since there has been a decrease in robberies of its products in New York City.
