Thanks to The Remote Kill Switch, iPhone and Other Smartphone Thefts Decline

Introduction of remote 'Kill Switch' has lowered the number of smartphone thefts in New York, London and San Francisco.

Compared to 2013, the number of smartphone thefts dropped by 27 percent in San Francisco, 16 percent in New York and 40 percent in London in 2014 when manufacturers introduced the kill switch after lawmakers in the three states began pushing for laws mandating it, Computerworld reports. Though laws are yet to be passed, the results are already there to see.

"The wireless industry continues to roll out sophisticated new features, but preventing their own customers from being the target of violent crime is the coolest technology they can bring to market," IB Times quoted San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon saying.

In all three cities, the biggest drop was seen in thefts of Apple iPhones, probably because Apple was the first to implement the kill switch. In London, where 10,000 handsets are stolen every month according to The Telelgraph, thefts of iPhones decreased by 50 percent. Google's latest version of Android will also have the feature.

The decline in thefts is set to propel formulation of laws that make kill switch mandatory in all states. California will soon pass such a law while Minnesota has one already in place. The kill switch is a software lock that bricks the phone and wipes data from it to prevent misuse.