Smartphone ‘kill switch’ effectively thwarts thieves

Smartphones thefts dropped sharply last year, thanks to security innovations such as Apple’s “Find My Phone” remote-locator feature. However, a surprising number of consumers still don’t protect their phones with password locks, according to a survey from Consumer Reports.

An estimated 2.1 million Americans had phones stolen last year, down from 3.1 million in 2013, a drop of just under a third, the consumer advocacy group reports. That’s especially good news because smartphones thefts can quickly turn violent, and in isolated cases, fatal.

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