New Remote Cell Phone Erasing Tool

[snopes]

Comment: All,

Just a reminder that U.S. Cellular(r) and many of the major cell phone
companies are starting to offer the lost phone tool, where if you loose
your phone, you can log onto the website and send a command out to erase
all the information in the phone including your phone book, recent calls
and text messages.

U.S. Cellular(r) just launched the service yesterday, therefore, if you
seize a phone for evidence, remember a person can send out a erase command
and as soon as you turn the phone on, it will erase itself and all the
data in it.

Just a heads up.

[Insensible Crier]

It's not really an issue. It's an optional service with an additional fee called My Contacts Backup. It's not a standard feature. Also, it looks like it only erases contact information, not "all the data in it." And if it's a law enforcement issue (since the comment mentions seizing it for evidence) then anything that was deleted can still be retrieved from the company.

http://www.uscc.com/uscellular/Silve...ContactsBackup

• Store and manage all your contacts on a secure website.

• Wirelessly restore your contacts to a new phone if yours is lost, damaged, stolen, upgraded or replaced.

• Wirelessly erase the contacts on your lost or stolen phone to keep your personal numbers safe.