Creighton Professor Leads Research For Smart phone Kill Switch Option

Most people know the feeling of dread that sinks in if their smart phone goes missing.

"I felt like everything was gone at that moment," said Victoria Avila, Creighton University Student.

Let's face it, smart phones nowadays hold as much important information as our wallets do.

"I was really panicked," said Kristine Dodge, Creighton University student.

It's one of the reason's Creighton University Associate Professor William Duckworth is getting recognized. He's just completed research on a smart phone idea called a 'kill switch.'

"I can call AT&T or Verizon, or whoever my carrier is and they would render the phone useless," said Duckworth.

Right now it's just a concept, but it works the same as if you lost a credit card. If it goes missing, just call up the company and they disable the whole phone so it can never run again.

But Duckworth said a kill switch would do more than bring peace of mind, it would save billions for consumers. Currently 2.6 billion dollars is spent on insurance and replacing stolen phones each year.

Also in the past year, the number of smart phone thefts has almost doubled.

Analysts believe criminals would no longer have an incentive to steal phones because a kill switch feature would allow victims to disable their phone at anytime.

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