Microsoft announces kill-switch for Windows Phone

Microsoft announced a kill-switch for Windows Phone which allow users to remotely delete data from their mobile phone and/or render the phone unusable. The new security options will be added to the existing 'Find My Phone' feature of Windows Phone.

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The new features were announced by Microsoft's Vice President of Government Affairs, Fred Humphries. Besides remotely wiping the data on the phone and rendering the smartphone inoperable by unauthorized users (except the ability to call 911) the feature also prevents reactivation or setup of the smartphone without the authorized user’s permission.

Once the data on the phone has been wiped, it's possible to recover the data from a cloud backup if the phone is returned to the authorized user.

The features will be released as an update to smartphones running Windows Phone 8.0 and should protect users against theft. Microsoft hasn't stated when the update will become available, but it's expected that it'll before July next year. The kill-switch is a proven concept, Apple added a similar feature in iOS 7 which caused a drop in stolen iPhones.

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