Google as Benevolent Dictator Yanks Smartphone Apps With Kill Switch: Tech

Google, Apple and Microsoft have with little fanfare embraced technology that lets technicians instantly and remotely purge unauthorized content from users’ machines.

So-called kill switches are standard on Android handsets and iPhones, the smartphone leaders. The capability will soon become more widespread with the release of Microsoft’s Windows 8 software for tablets and computers. While their stated use is for the removal of harmful content, there’s no standard definition of what that means, and companies aren’t required to disclose when and how the tools are employed. The technology could be harnessed by a hacker to unleash a virus, a company to pry into a user’s private information or a government body to repress free speech, said Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University’s law school.