Smartphone Kill-Switch Could Save Consumers $2.6 Billion

[wraggster]

Creighton University professor William Duckworth has released a report finding that kill-switch technology that remotely makes a stolen smartphone useless could save American consumers up to $2.6 billion per year (http://www.itworld.com/security/412204/smartphone-kill-switch-could-save-consumers-26b-year-says-report) — mostly from reduced insurance premiums. Duckworth estimated that Americans currently spend around $580 million replacing stolen phones each year and $4.8 billion paying for handset insurance. If a kill-switch led to a sharp reduction in theft of phones, most of the $580 million spent on replacing stolen phones would be saved. And a further $2 billion in savings could be realized by switching to cheaper insurance plans that don't cover theft."

http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/03/31/1325247/smartphone-kill-switch-could-save-consumers-26-billion