Facebook, like Google, continues to add to its list of services – Facebook wants to be our everything. And this week news broke that Facebook is weeks away from getting e-wallet approval in Ireland. Is the U.S. next?

And as a California anti-theft kill switch bill gets debated, mobile phone manufacturers take a preemptive stand. But is it enough to prevent theft?

Facebook has made attempts at becoming a digital currency provider with Facebook Credits and Facebook Gifts, and its latest attempt is an e-wallet, reports CNET. Officials in Ireland are weeks away from approving a Facebook e-wallet that could be used “to handle electronic money, or ’e-money,’ that can be used throughout Europe.'”

Mobile Phone Anti-Theft Kill-Switch

Earlier this week mobile phone manufacturers and service providers including Apple, AT&T, Samsung, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint proposed their own solution to the anti-theft kill switch debate. They have proposed a free “opt-in” tool that could be preloaded or downloaded, and that would allow a user to (1) remote wipe data; (2) make the phone operable only to authorized users; (3) prevent reactivation without the user’s consent; and (4) restore the data on the phone and make the phone operable if the user recovers the phone, reports Ars Technica.

Though a step in the right direction, Mark Leno, the California state senator who proposed the kill-switch bill says it’s not enough. Instead, he would prefer an “opt out” feature, stating, “While I am encouraged they are moving off of that position so quickly, today’s ‘opt-in’ proposal misses the mark.” He added, “For stolen phones to have no resale value on the black market, the vast majority of consumers must have the theft-deterrent feature pre-enabled on their phones, using an ‘opt-out’ solution,” reports Ars Technica.

If the California bill passes, the mobile phone companies will have to change their plans – possibly to accommodate the whole country – considering the market share that California has.

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Related Resources:

  • ‘Kill-Switch’ Legislation Pending; Will it Kill Phone Theft? (FindLaw’s Technologist Blog)
  • Meet Google Helpouts: Your New Virtual Law Office Platform? (FindLaw’s Technologist Blog)
  • 10 at 10: Privacy Settings to Celebrate Facebook’s Birthday (FindLaw’s Technologist Blog)

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