Losing your phone, or getting your phone stolen, is akin to losing a limb in today's world. Wouldn't it be nice if someone could flip a switch and deactivate a phone should it ever get lost or stolen? George Gascon, the district attorney of San Francisco, certainly thinks so, and that's why he's proposed a measure for a so-called "Smartphone Kill Switch" that would immediately deactivate the phone should it ever get lost or stolen. 

But according to ABC News, Gascon is facing stiff opposition...not from the cell phone makers, but the cell phone carriers.

Gascon made his proposition for the smartphone kill switch to mega-manufacturer Samsung, maker of such best-sellers as the Galaxy 4 and the Note II. "They engaged a third-party developer willing to develop it, and said they would roll it out with the Galaxy 5 phones," he said. "But the carriers said to Samsung, 'Absolutely not.' We were perplexed, so we started to look into it." 

The reason, according to CNN, may strictly be about the profit. Carriers don't want the "kill switch" because they would lose money on such forms of income as insurance plans, the reactivation of stolen phones, and the sale of new phones. 

The proposition, which also has support from New York attorney general Eric Schneidermann, is part of an initiative called Secure Our Smartphones (S.O.S.), whose nationwide initiatives include pushing both the makers of smartphones, and the wireless phone industry, to protect consumers from smartphone theft (which can sometimes become violent -- according to statistics released by San Francisco, 67% of violent robberies are tied to cell phone theft). 

Both Verizon and AT&T declined to speak about the issue and deferred to CTIA-The Wireless Association for further comment. Jamie Hastings, vice president of external and state affairs for CTIA, offered the following statement: "One of the components of the efforts was to create an integrated database designed to prevent stolen phones from being reactivated. To assist users, we offer a list of apps to download that will remotely erase, track and/or lock the stolen devices." 

So, what do you think about this proposed measure? Leave your thoughts in the comments!