No. It was a policy problem large enough that legislators required it as a condition of selling phones. It was a real problem that kids walking around high-sc

No. It was a policy problem large enough that legislators required it as a condition of selling phones. It was a real problem that kids walking around high-school, or people walking in the street, were carrying something easily stolen and fenced for several hundred dollars. Ride-by theft by bike was a notorious mode. The equivalent would be people walking around with a stack of $50s flapping in their hands. A target like that is called an "attractive nuisance", and the law has a long tradition of discouraging them. https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2015/07/02/smartphone-anti-theft-kill-switch-law-goes-into-effect-in-california https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2015/07/02/smartphone-anti-the...