Self-Destructing Smartphones

Adewale Adeleye
2 min readDec 4, 2018

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What if that device you are using is loaded with military graded chips and systems that allow it to self-destruct with a simple command. I have been looking at different features built by phone manufacturers to help users locate their stolen or missing phone but some will still allow the thieves to get away by erasing the phone or restoring back to factory settings.

With a more lethal feature, you can now forget about those find my phone feature and deal with thieves or unauthorized users by initializing your phone to self-destruct remotely.

I have asked a couple of people if they would use a self-destructing phone in case it got stolen or was in the wrong hands. Many people said they will never use such device because it serves as a potential threat to them and can explode BOOM!!!

Are you doubting if it’s going to be possible? Well, some dudes in Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology already built a device made of silicon and polymer which will be added into your phone and you can then initiate the self-destruct command to destroy the phone remotely from an app.

The Silicon Technology

This method will leverage the power of the battery and explodes after about 10 seconds when the silicon device would’ve expanded more than 4 times its initial size. What if the device can’t be connected via a remote app? The user should be able to set a minimum unavailability period in (seconds or minutes). If the phone cannot connect after the time elapses, it will self-destruct automatically. Isn’t that too dangerous?

Well, you can now modify your phones to have such a self-destructing feature for a few bucks.

The chip Technology

A scene from kingsman (secret service)

The advances made in the Xerox PARC’s computer chip has made it possible for some chips to self-destruct in a few seconds. This will be the chips of the future which will easily be triggered by voices, microwaves, sound, heat, or laser.

For now, It’s safe we allow these technologies to be in the possession of the military.

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