Committee hears bill to bar remote "kill switches" on personally owned products without a warrant

Sen. Ken Bogner introduced Senate Bill 364 to the House Energy Committee, saying the bill would bar companies from remotely stopping or disabling an individual's personally owned product without a warrant. "Senate Bill 364 is establishing kill switch laws here in Montana," Bogner told the panel.

The bill defines a "kill switch" as a mechanism that can remotely shut down a product, accelerate battery drain or shorten software life. Bogner said an amendment is expected to add clarifying exemptions for sales and lease agreements: "There is an amendment that will be coming, to add a couple clarifying exemptions for sales and lease agreements. So please look for that, and I would appreciate your support on those."

Why it matters: The measure would affect vehicles and other connected devices that manufacturers or creditors can remotely control. Committee members pressed how the bill would interact with existing devices used in vehicle financing, law-enforcement requests to disable vehicles during criminal investigations, and safety-related…