I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2024 
To require mobile service providers and smartphone manufacturers to give 
consumers the ability to remotely delete data from smartphones and 
render smartphones inoperable. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 23, 2015 
Mr. SERRANO (for himself, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. GRAYSON, and Ms. JACKSON 
LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To require mobile service providers and smartphone manufac-
turers to give consumers the ability to remotely delete 
data from smartphones and render smartphones inoper-
able. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smartphone Theft Pre-
vention Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) mobile device theft costs consumers billions 
of dollars each year, according to the Federal Com-
munications Commission; 
(2) 1 in 3 robberies include the theft of a mo-
bile device; 
(3) carriers, manufacturers, law enforcement, 
the Federal Communications Commission, and State 
governments have worked to address the growing 
trend of mobile device theft, but more remains to be 
done; 
(4) consumers deserve to have the most secure 
technology available to protect them and their infor-
mation; 
(5) technological protections continue to de-
velop, evolve, and improve in ways that are good for 
the economy and the consumers of the United 
States, and for public safety in the United States; 
(6) the wireless industry should work with law 
enforcement to educate consumers about the security 
tools that are available to them and how to keep 
their data, their devices, and themselves safe; 
(7) because engineering and security needs 
change rapidly, the mobile device industry, law en-
forcement, and consumer advocates are best suited 
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to proactively develop solutions to protect con-
sumers, drive innovation, and deter theft; and 
(8) major cities such as San Francisco, New 
York, and London have seen recent decreases in 
smartphone theft since carriers and manufacturers 
began rolling out sophisticated new technological 
functions to protect consumers from theft. 
SEC. 3. FUNCTION FOR STOLEN SMARTPHONES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title III of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 343. FUNCTION FOR STOLEN SMARTPHONES. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘account holder’, with re-
spect to a smartphone— 
‘‘(i) means the person who holds the 
account through which commercial mobile 
service or commercial mobile data service 
is provided on the smartphone; and 
‘‘(ii) includes a person authorized by 
the person described in clause (i) to take 
actions with respect to the smartphone; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘commercial mobile data 
service’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
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tion 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and 
Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401); 
‘‘(C) the term ‘commercial mobile service’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 332; 
and 
‘‘(D) the term ‘smartphone’ means a cel-
lular radio telephone or other mobile voice com-
munications handset device— 
‘‘(i) on which commercial mobile serv-
ice or commercial mobile data service is 
provided; and 
‘‘(ii) that— 
‘‘(I) utilizes a mobile operating 
system; 
‘‘(II) possesses advanced data ca-
pabilities, including software applica-
tions, Internet access, digital voice 
services, email, and text messaging; 
‘‘(III) 
has 
wireless 
network 
connectivity; and 
‘‘(IV) is capable of operating on 
a long-term evolution network. 
‘‘(2) FCC AUTHORITY TO MODIFY DEFINITION 
OF ‘SMARTPHONE’.—The Commission may modify 
the definition of the term ‘smartphone’ under para-
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graph (1) if the Commission determines that cir-
cumstances require such a modification. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) FUNCTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A provider of commer-
cial mobile service or commercial mobile data 
service on a smartphone, in coordination with 
the manufacturer of, and the provider of the 
operating system for, the smartphone, shall— 
‘‘(i) make available on the smartphone 
a function described in subparagraph (B); 
and 
‘‘(ii) ensure that— 
‘‘(I) during the initial device 
setup 
process, 
the 
smartphone 
prompts the account holder to enable 
the function described in subpara-
graph (B); and 
‘‘(II) only the account holder is 
able to opt out of enabling the func-
tion described in subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) FUNCTION DETAILS.—A function de-
scribed in this subparagraph, with respect to a 
smartphone, is a function that— 
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‘‘(i) may only be used by the account 
holder; and 
‘‘(ii) includes the capability to re-
motely— 
‘‘(I) delete or render inaccessible 
from the smartphone all information 
relating to the account holder that has 
been placed on the smartphone; 
‘‘(II) render the smartphone in-
operable on the network of any pro-
vider of commercial mobile service or 
commercial mobile data service glob-
ally; 
‘‘(III) prevent the smartphone 
from being reactivated or repro-
grammed without a passcode or simi-
lar authorization after the smartphone 
has been— 
‘‘(aa) rendered inoperable as 
described in subclause (II); or 
‘‘(bb) subject to an unau-
thorized factory reset; and 
‘‘(IV) restore personal informa-
tion from the smartphone onto a com-
patible or interoperable device. 
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‘‘(2) DEVICE STANDARDS.—A person may not 
manufacture in the United States, or import into the 
United States for sale or resale to the public, a 
smartphone unless the smartphone is configured in 
such a manner that the provider of commercial mo-
bile service or commercial mobile data service on the 
smartphone is able to comply with the requirements 
under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) EXEMPTIONS FOR FUNCTIONALLY EQUIVA-
LENT TECHNOLOGY.— 
‘‘(A) MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The 
Commission may exempt a provider of commer-
cial mobile service or commercial mobile data 
service on a smartphone, and the manufacturer 
of, and provider of the operating system for, the 
smartphone, from the requirement under para-
graph (1) with respect to that smartphone if 
the service provider, in coordination with the 
manufacturer and operating system provider, 
makes available on the smartphone technology 
that accomplishes the functional equivalent of 
the function, initial prompt, and ability to opt 
out required under paragraph (1)(A). 
‘‘(B) MANUFACTURERS AND IMPORTERS.— 
The Commission may exempt a person from the 
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requirement under paragraph (2)(A), with re-
spect to a smartphone that the person manufac-
tures in the United States or imports into the 
United States for sale or resale to the public, 
if the smartphone is configured in such a man-
ner that the provider of commercial mobile serv-
ice or commercial mobile data service on the 
smartphone 
may 
make 
available 
on 
the 
smartphone technology that accomplishes the 
functional equivalent of the function, initial 
prompt, and ability to opt out required under 
paragraph (1)(A). 
‘‘(c) NO FEE.—A provider of commercial mobile serv-
ice or commercial mobile data service on a smartphone 
may not charge the account holder any fee for making the 
function, initial prompt, and ability to opt out required 
under subsection (b)(1)(A), or any equivalent technology 
described in subsection (b)(3)(A), available to the account 
holder. 
‘‘(d) FORFEITURE PENALTY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person that is deter-
mined by the Commission, in accordance with para-
graphs (3) and (4) of section 503(b), to have vio-
lated subsection (b) or (c) of this section, including 
a manufacturer or operating system provider that 
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violates the requirement to coordinate with a service 
provider under subsection (b)(1)(A), shall be liable 
to the United States for a forfeiture penalty, in an 
amount to be determined by the Commission. 
‘‘(2) OTHER PENALTIES.—A forfeiture penalty 
under this subsection shall be in addition to any 
other penalty provided for in this Act. 
‘‘(e) COMMON NATIONAL FRAMEWORK.—The Com-
mission shall establish a common national framework for 
smartphone anti-theft measures that takes into consider-
ation the interest of all stakeholders for the purpose of 
promoting national uniformity of the function, initial 
prompt, and ability to opt out required under subsection 
(b)(1)(A), or functionally equivalent technology described 
in subsection (b)(3)(A), to protect consumers from the 
theft of smartphones. 
‘‘(f) TABLETS.— 
‘‘(1) COMMISSION DETERMINATION.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of the 
Smartphone Theft Prevention Act of 2015, the Com-
mission shall determine whether this section should 
apply with respect to tablets on which commercial 
mobile service or commercial mobile data service is 
provided. 
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‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—If the Commission deter-
mines that this section should apply with respect to 
tablets described in paragraph (1), the Commission 
shall promulgate regulations to implement that de-
termination. 
‘‘(g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to prohibit a manufacturer of 
smartphones, or a provider of commercial mobile service 
or commercial mobile data service, from taking actions not 
described in this section to protect consumers from the 
theft of smartphones. 
‘‘(h) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to preempt any provision 
of State law that provides protections to users of 
smartphones (or tablets, if applicable) that are at least 
as strong as the protections provided under this section.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY OF FUNCTION REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘‘smartphone’’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 343 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
added by subsection (a). 
(2) APPLICABILITY.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (3), section 343 of the Communications 
Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a), shall apply 
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with respect to any smartphone that, on or after 
January 1, 2016, is— 
(A) manufactured in the United States; or 
(B) imported into the United States for 
sale to the public. 
(3) COMPLIANCE
EXTENSIONS.—The Federal 
Communications Commission may exempt a person 
that is subject to any requirement under section 
343(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
added by subsection (a), from that requirement for 
a temporary period after the date described in para-
graph (2) of this subsection, upon a showing by the 
person that the person requires more time to be able 
to comply with the requirement. 
Æ 
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