kill switch

noun, verb — 2 senses

kill switch

noun

1

A security measure used to switch off a device in an emergency.

The company developed a ‘kill switch’ that would remotely encrypt its computers and devices if an office was raided by authorities.2022 July 11, Paris Marx, “The Uber Leak Exposes the Global War on Workers”, in Tribune:

Related terms: big red button, dead man's switch

kill switch

verb

1

To switch off using a kill switch.

Digitization supercharges financialization. It lets car-makers offer subprime auto-loans to desperate, poor people and then killswitch their cars if they miss a payment.2023 July 24, Cory Doctorow, “Autoenshittification”, in Pluralistic:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.