California Governor Brown Signs Smartphone “Kill Switch” Bill Into Law

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill that will require all smartphones sold in California to come equipped with technology that would render the devices useless if stolen. The “kill switch” measure, proposed by San Francisco Democratic Sen. Mark Leno, applies to all smartphones sold in the state after July 1, 2015. The law is intended to address the epidemic of smartphone theft in some of the state’s largest cities, including San Francisco, where 67 percent of all robberies involve the theft of a mobile communications device.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.