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DOI: 10.14569/IJACSA.2021.01212102 PDF

Design of an Anti-theft Alarm System for Vehicles using IoT

Author 1: Jorge Arellano-Zubiate Author 2: Jheyson Izquierdo-Calongos Author 3: Laberiano Andrade-Arenas

International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications(ijacsa), Volume 12 Issue 12, 2021.

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Abstract: Automobiles have become one of the most sought-after targets for criminals due to their worldwide popularity. Crime is reflected in the statistics, which show that over the years, the crime rate of vehicle theft has been on the rise. As part of the fight against this crime, the vehicles come with certain systems incorporated to avoid this type of situations; obtaining many outstanding results. In this research project, a system was developed that allows through the application of the Internet of Things (IoT), the management of software and hardware technologies that allow the user to have access to various actions, such as vehicle location through the global positioning system (GPS), and identification of the offender, through radio frequency identification (RFID), as well as the global system of mobile communications (GSM). The objective of the research is to design a mobile and IoT application to reduce robberies in the department of Lima-Peru, using the scrum methodology. The result obtained is the design of the mobile application, with its anti-theft system, vehicle blocking and notification of unauthorized ignition.

Jorge Arellano-Zubiate, Jheyson Izquierdo-Calongos and Laberiano Andrade-Arenas, “Design of an Anti-theft Alarm System for Vehicles using IoT” International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications(ijacsa), 12(12), 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2021.01212102

@article{Arellano-Zubiate2021, title = {Design of an Anti-theft Alarm System for Vehicles using IoT}, journal = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications}, doi = {10.14569/IJACSA.2021.01212102}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2021.01212102}, year = {2021}, publisher = {The Science and Information Organization}, volume = {12}, number = {12}, author = {Jorge Arellano-Zubiate and Jheyson Izquierdo-Calongos and Laberiano Andrade-Arenas} }

Copyright Statement: This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, even commercially as long as the original work is properly cited.

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Real-time power theft monitoring and detection system with double connected data capture system

• Original Paper
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• Published: 29 May 2023
• Volume 105 , pages 3065–3083, ( 2023 )

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• Celimpilo Lindani Zulu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4005-2553 1 &
• Oliver Dzobo 1  

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Power utilities worldwide are facing enormous challenges when it comes to the distribution of electricity. With these challenges, electricity theft is regarded as the most common challenge in the electrical distribution system. Electricity theft can be meter tampering done in consumer houses and illegal connections done using hook-ups from the distribution pole grids. These electricity theft challenges have caused power utilities to reconsider customer engagements focusing on feedback, putting loss detection systems in their distribution system networks, using artificial intelligence to schedule maintenance and other asset management activities, etc. The main focus of this paper is to design a real-time power theft monitoring and detection system that is able to detect power theft in distribution systems. This proposed system utilizes smart meters consisting of an Arduino ATMega328P microcontrollers with GSM modules (Global System for Mobile Communication) used for system communication. Cloud storage is created to store the smart meter data. Simulations of the proposed system were done using Proteus Design Suite v.8.10 SP3 software. The proposed system is practically constructed for prototype measurement results. Should power imbalances be measured by the system, the authority office will receive an SMS notification as an alert for power theft detected by a specific smart metering system. The authority office will analyse the power measurements sent to the cloud storage (MATLAB Online, ThingSpeak IoT channels display), and further action will be taken.

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1 Introduction

The power system network has many operational losses. Operational losses are categorized as technical and non-technical losses [ 1 ]. Technical losses mainly occur in distribution networks due to cable faults, transformers, overhead lines, and other substation equipment used to transfer/distribute electricity [ 2 ], while non-technical losses mainly occur in distribution system networks due to illegal electrification schemes, cable theft, non-payment of electricity tariffs, the selling and using illegal prepaid vouchers purchased from stolen vending machines, meters tampering, illegal electricity connections, etc. [ 3 ]. The main significant contributors to non-technical losses are meter tampering and illegal connections [ 3 ]. The issue of electricity theft (meter tampering and illegal connection) has become a serious concern for most power utilities worldwide. It has resulted in huge financial losses to the power utility and the government [ 4 ].

Recent research studies have shown that the world losses due to electricity theft are approximately US$89.3 billion annually [ 4 ]. In the USA, Progress Energy Incorporated (Inc.) has reported a 5% rise in electricity theft within a year [ 5 ]. The cost of nationwide electricity power theft in the USA alone is about $1.6 billion yearly [ 5 ]. According to the Herald Live, at least one house in every seven houses in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (South Africa) has its electric meter tampered with, resulting in revenue losses [ 4 ]. This electricity theft challenge is the main reason why most Electrical Departments in municipalities are struggling financially in the country. All these have a severe implication on the country’s economic growth due to the cascading problems caused, which also results in load shading that is mainly caused by electricity shortage. The monitoring and detection systems for meter tampering in consumer houses and illegal hook-up connections from distribution pole grids are commonly designed as separate systems [ 1 ]. This presents a challenge to the power utility as they need to install two systems to monitor and detect any illegal activities by each consumer. With this challenge, it is essential to design a real-time power theft monitoring and detection system that simultaneously monitors and detects illegal electricity connections from the distribution pole grids and meter tampering from household electricity consumers [ 1 ]. This will help minimize the financial losses faced by power utilities due to electricity theft and its impact on the country’s economy.

Several techniques have been developed within the power system grid to address the issue of electricity theft. The Automated Meter Reading (AMR) system was the first electronic meter [ 1 ][ 6 ]. This system would enable the utility company to remotely access the data transmitted from the consumer meter to the utility company by telephone, satellite communications, radio frequency, or power lines [ 7 , 8 ]. The redevelopment of the AMR system was called Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) because AMI enables ‘bidirectional’ data exchange between consumer meters and the utility company. The utility networks and home area networks are presented [ 8 ] (see Fig.  1 ) . The home area networks use wireless communication systems and devices such as ZigBee module, wireless local area network (WLAN), WiMAX, long-term evolution (LTE), Wi-Fi, broadband power line communication (PLC), IEEE 802.16e, etc., to have a network connection on the power utility aggregation points [ 1 ][ 9 ].

Smart grid conceptual architecture [ 8 ]

Figure  1 presents a system that utilizes AMI networks for communications and System Operator (SO) to detect meter tampering unnoticed [ 8 ]. This system is designed so that AMI network schemes and the SO’s are able to obtain the total aggregated electricity consumption [ 8 ]. SO’s can also efficiently compute the electricity bill for each customer following dynamic pricing that is used for load monitoring and energy management [ 8 ]. Such systems also include the implementation of an electricity usage determiner or smart home scheduler that needs the support of a communication system associated with smart grids [ 9 , 10 ]. Another example of such a system is the three-step advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) [ 11 ]. This system contains a trusted third party (TTP), local area network (LAN), and control centre (CC). The TTP phase is on the user’s side, where there are smart meters for each consumer house [ 11 ]. The digital electronic meters are designed to compute the voltage and the current product, which gives instantaneous power in watts [ 12 , 13 ]. For the power utility company to identify meter tampering, the electricity theft self-detector smart meters are installed in each house to monitor the electricity usage of each consumer [ 13 ]. These systems can only detect meter tampering and monitor energy data usage but cannot address illegal connections from the distribution pole grids.

Figure  2 presents a smart prepaid energy metering system to control electricity theft [ 14 ] (see Fig.  2 ) . With this system, the power utility monitors the consumer’s power usage by connecting the server and the consumer energy meter through a network. All this is done using GSM technologies, and the power utility is connected to the GSM modem [ 14 ]. The consumer energy meter consists of an ATMega32 microcontroller, energy measuring chip (ADE7751), GSM module (Siemens A62 mobile phone), MAX232, potential transformers, current transformers, a relay, and LCD [ 14 ]. Other related systems include a system that uses a circuit breaker with a ZigBee module and a current transformer placed at each consumer terminal to measure the total current consumed by the electricity consumers [ 15 , 16 ]. Some smart meters are built using AVR microcontrollers and are different from most ordinary single-phase smart meters. They use two current transducers to measure active power in both live and neutral wires [ 17 ]. Other systems also feature theft detection and a notification system enabling the consumer to access the smart electric meter and power usage monitoring remotely using the internet [ 18 , 19 ]. This could be easily done with LoRaWAN technology. In contrast, other systems are designed consisting of four main modules, namely controlling station (CS), transmission line sensor node (TLSN), wireless transformer sensor node (WTSN), and wireless consumer sensor node (WCSN) [ 19 , 20 ].

Smart prepaid energy metering system to control electricity theft [ 14 ]

Figure  3 presents an Internet of Things (IoT)-based power theft detection system build consisting of a 32-bit RISC ARM processor core licensed by AMR holdings [ 21 ] (see Fig.  3 ) . With ARM microprocessor and IoT, the power usage readings from the voltage divider are captured, and the information is easily transmitted from one point to another using the internet [ 21 ]. The ARM microprocessor receives captured electric data from the measuring device. It then sends the captured electric data for display to the input of the LCD so that the consumer is able to see how much is being consumed by the load. The ARM processor has an inbuilt ADC, which converts AC signal into binary (digital signal) [ 21 ]. Microcontrollers are used as an engine of the system to compare the balances, forward the captured data, and link the communication system of the microgrid system and the smart metering system [ 22 ]. The GSM module sends an SMS when power theft has been detected, and a power line fault is detected from the transmission lines [ 22 , 23 ]. IoT-based systems are designed to send the data collected to the cloud storage (i.e., Speak-Software using GSM modules) [ 24 , 25 ]. The power theft detected and captured electric data of the consumer is also kept at the Speak-Software [ 25 ].

Diagram of an IoT-based power theft detection [ 21 ]

Other related systems include a monitoring system that utilizes an electro-optical sensor incorporated into a smart energy meter to detect when the meter cover is opened [ 26 ]. Another system is a detection system consisting of resistors, a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR), and a comparator [ 26 , 27 ]. Another example is a cost-effective electricity theft detection and prevention system based on IoT technology [ 28 ]. Here, the IoT concept helps by connecting the smart energy meter with the utility through the internet, such as the internet of things (IoT) based tamper prevention system for electricity meters (IoTETPS) [ 28 , 29 ]. Most IoT-based smart meters are designed to transmit the recorded energy usage data through network channels such as radio frequency (RF), broadband over power lines (BPL), and public networks [ 30 ]. This recorded data is transferred to the utility central meter data management system (MDMS) for data analysis [ 29 , 30 ]. This includes a smart energy metering (SEM) system that uses Bluetooth technology to receive and transmit serial data across the network communication platforms [ 31 ]. These new systems also incorporate security through PLC applications and IoT’s online metering infrastructure system [ 19 ]. With cloud storage (ThingSpeak IoT, channels display), the parameters are displayed graphically and in digital format [ 32 ]. At every interval, the measured and captured electric data is received and stored in one excel sheet, and the power utility will review the sheet to identify measured power imbalances [ 32 , 33 ]. So far, all the systems presented can only detect meter tampering accurately but cannot address illegal connections from the distribution pole grids.

Figure  4 presents an IoT-based power theft analyser and detection system [ 32 ] (see Fig.  4 ) . The system relies on the data transferring between the monitoring units (observer meters) installed on each distribution transformer and/or a node that supplies power to consumer houses. Each section of a monitoring unit has an IoT smart energy meter installed to monitor that particular section’s parameters [ 32 ]. Each observer meter (master unit) measures and monitors the electric data distributed in the section. With the use of the ThingSpeak website (cloud storage), the parameters are displayed graphically and in digital format, and the power utility will review the graphic display to identify measured power imbalances. Whenever an illegal consumer hooks up directly from the distribution feeders of the microgrid system, there will be power discrepancies on the measured and captured electric flow between the master units of two paired sections [ 32 ]. The power utility will further analyse it to determine whether there was a possible illegal connection identified or not. The illegal connection is identified by comparing the power measured and reported by two different paired sections. However, this system does not make the identified illegal connection easily tracible with an exact location of electricity theft.

Diagram of an IoT-based power theft analyser and detection

Figure  5 shows a smart metering system that relies on the observer meter on the distribution pole node to determine the discrepancies of the power usage received from both the Home-1 smart meter and Home-2 smart meter [ 34 ]. Should the total sum of power usage measured on both homes be below the power measured by an observer meter, then electricity theft is detected. An observer meter will then disclose and tell its location and take a picture of an area for clearance to the power utility [ 34 ]. Another similar system includes an IoT-based communication system consisting of the current sensor, ZigBee module, Arduino Nano, Node MCU, and the GSM technology device [ 35 , 36 ]. In addition, including systems designed consisting of a voltage transformer, current transformer, PIC microcontroller, and a deferential relay [ 37 ]. The PIC microcontroller built on with ADC and RISC architecture receives the measured values and converts the received analog values to digital values [ 37 , 38 ].

Architecture of the smart metering system [ 34 ]

This includes smart meters designed consisting of a low trap installed to prevent the injected high-frequency signal from affecting or damaging the electronic components and other devices like home appliances connected to the power system [ 39 ]. Such systems use wireless communication protocols. These smart metering systems may use SparkMeter, which communicates using the IEEE 802.4 mesh network installed on the distribution pole nodes as a system network gateway to the utility [ 40 ]. These network gateways are responsible for low-latency management tasks and on-site data logging. The received data from the cloud storage is run through a SparkMeter software that has an Intel NUC mini-PC connected to an 802.15.4 USB node and the GSM/GPRS Moxa modem of the network gateways before the local interface receives it through 802.11 network protocol [ 40 ]. All the systems presented in these two last paragraphs are part of the Double Metering System, which this paper proposes as a solution but focusing on both issues of illegal connections and meter tampering using one system.

Due to data manipulation when distributing data wirelessly or through the internet, secure ways are recommended for the safe transmission of captured electric data and data storage. Figure  6 presents a cyber defense framework of the AMI communication networks of the electrical distribution grid and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack [ 41 ]. This AMI network system features a hierarchical communication relation including wide area networks (WAN), neighbour area networks (NAN), and home area networks (HAN) [ 41 ] (see Fig.  6 ) . AMI communication network systems can adopt such wireless communication platforms, namely: long-term evolution (LTE), wireless local area network (WLAN), ZigBee module, optical fibre, power line carrier (PLC), etc. [ 41 ]. Many network protocols are featured to meet AMI communication requirements, including IED 61,107/62056, open smart grid protocol (OSGP), and ANSI C12.18/19/21. To build a scalable communication infrastructure of AMI, an internet protocol suite (IPS) will be a suitable option [ 41 ]. The AMI system is vulnerable to potential cyber threats, such as connection-based attacks exploit the vulnerabilities in existing communication media and protocols, including wireless scrambling, message modification, eavesdropping, RF jamming, and injection [ 41 ].

DDoS attack within AMI communication network [ 41 ]

It is clear from the literature review that attempts to address the issue of electricity theft (meter tampering and illegal connections) have been made [ 1 ]. However, both issues of electricity theft must be addressed simultaneously using one system. The proposed real-time power theft monitoring and detection system is designed to identify, trace, and locate any attempt of electricity theft in the power system grid [ 1 ]. This proposed system is designed using smart meters installed on each distribution pole grid/node and each consumer house. Each smart meter consists of a current sensor, voltage sensor, Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller, and a GSM module.

2 Proposed system strategic capability

First, let’s discuss the issue of harmonics. It should be noted that the proposed system discusses the features that can be added to the existing smart electric meter and observer meters capable of accommodating THD (total harmonic distortion) measuring, including wireless communication, self-determining power consumption, or power distribution. The features added by the proposed system focus on showing how electricity theft based on illegal connections from the pole grids and meter tampering from consumers can be accurately detected using the proposed strategic system.

Below are ways to reduce the effect of harmonics in the power system circuits [ 42 ].

The following are only two possible ways for this.

The installation of filters helps to reduce the harmonics.

The replacement of a standard transformer with a high K-factor rated transformer that can handle the distortion.

K-factor-rated transformers are designed to handle a degree of harmonic load currents without overheating [ 42 ]. They have a K-rating number of the transformer (1, 4, 9, 13, 20) that indicates the amount of harmonic current the transformer can handle [ 42 ].

K-Factor 1: Motors, Motor Generators, Resistance Heating, Incandescent Lighting (without solid-state drives) [ 42 ].

K-Factor 4: Induction Heaters, HID Lighting, Welders, PLC and solid-state controls, UPS with optional input filtering [ 42 ].

K-Factor 13: UPS without optional input filtering, Schools and Classroom facilities, Multiple receptacle circuits in health care facilities, Production or assembly line equipment [ 42 ].

K-Factor 20: Circuits with exclusive data processing equipment, SCR Variable Speed Drives, Critical care facilities, and Hospital operating rooms [ 42 ].

Active power is the actual power transferred to the load, such as electric consumers, induction motors, generators, and transformers, and dissipated in the circuit [ 43 ]. Reactive power represents that the energy is first stored and then released in an electrostatic field or magnetic field in the case of capacitor and inductor, respectively [ 43 ]. Reactive power is commonly regarded as wasted power or power losses, as shown in Fig.  7 . Apparent power is the product of voltage and current (i.e., RMS voltage and RMS current) [ 43 ]. Suppose the power utility installs a K-factor-rated transformer from the distribution grid supplying the consumers and installs the observer meter after the transformer outputs. They would have covered harmonics effects because they would measure apparent power or active power, assuming that no reactive power is experienced in the grid. Therefore, no power factor leading or lagging, and the value of the apparent power is equal to the value of the active power. Therefore, no distribution losses were encountered.

Analysing Apparent Power to Active Power and Reactive Power [ 43 ]

The proposed system utilizes current sensors to measure a varying current flow and manage the effect of harmonics. The self-designed filtered voltage sensor was used; this is proven in Fig.  20 as the voltage measuring is always stable; this was done to achieve accurate power distributed and received between the nodes and the consumers. In addition, it should be noted that the technical power losses are calculated using the formula P = I 2 R or V 2 /R but not the used power consumption formula P = VI [ 44 ]. Therefore, to determine the real technical losses, the mentioned formulas must be added to determine the technical losses, or the use of alternative methods featured within smart meters to determine them. It should be remembered that when applying V 2 /R, the voltage to consider is not the line-to-ground voltage or line-to-line voltage but the voltage drop across the line [ 44 ]. In case of no load, the voltage drop across the line is unmeasurable, and we can only consider the line resistance and the current flowing. So, the formula P = I 2 R should be used in this regard [ 44 ].

3 Proposed system design

Figure  8 presents a block diagram of a proposed real-time power theft monitoring and detection system. As stated, each smart meter consists of a current sensor, voltage sensor, Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller, and a GSM module. This system is designed to work in a combination of two-by-two continuous communication systems using feedback lines for accurate power measurement results. The main smart meter from the distribution transformer (main observer meter) communicates with the distribution pole grid 1 smart meter (observer meter) to measure power distributed from the distribution transformer against the power received by pole grid 1. The same applies with pole grid 1 to pole grid/node 2. The smart meter for distribution pole grid 1 (observer meter) communicates with the distribution pole grid/node 2 smart meter (observer meter). This includes the distribution pole node smart meter connected to the supply of each consumer house also communicates with the consumer house smart meter to measure power distributed from the pole node against the power received by each consumer house.

Flowchart description of the proposed system

The following should be noted with the proposed system. As shown in Fig.  10 , the proposed smart metering system is designed so that the feedback line between pole grid 1 smart meter and pole grid 2 smart meter is for the smart meter in pole 1 to read the current reading received in pole 2 current sensor. This is achieved without direct communication with the smart meter in pole 2 and will help reduce miscommunications and error data captured, which may massively affect the system because of one interrupted smart meter. With that said, the smart meter in pole grid 1 measures a current supplied from a current sensor in pole 1 and the current received by a current sensor in pole 2 without direct communication with the pole 2 smart meter as structured in Fig.  10 . The same applies to the consumer smart metering system.

The proposed smart metering system is mainly designed to focus on the distribution network system starting from the distribution transformer (delta-star step-down transformer) receiving a Medium Voltage (MV) 11 kV three-wire supply system from the substation. It then stepped down to Low Voltage (LV) 400 V three-phase four-wire system (with 230 V single-phase). From the distribution transformer to each distribution pole grid, the proposed smart metering system can calculate the power distributed in three-phase or single-phase. With the simulated and implemented prototype design system, a single-phase (230 V) smart metering system is designed for system-accurate functionality testing. Therefore, a single-phase smart metering system is used from distribution pole grid number one to distribution pole grid number two, including two single-phase smart meters in consumer houses.

With that said, should a three-phase supply be used from the distribution transformer to the distribution pole grids, the authority would install the three-phase smart metering system in both distribution pole grids. In the distribution pole grid number one three-phase smart metering system, the current transformer (CT) would measure current flow from each of the three lines (L1, L2, and L3) and combine all three currents to get a total current. It will then calibrate it with the voltage transformer (VT) reading in all three lines to determine the three-phase power distributed from distribution pole grid one to distribution pole grid two. The distribution pole grid number two three-phase smart metering system supplying three consumer houses from each of the three lines (L1, L2, and L3) would measure the current reading of line 1 supplying consumer house 1. These include the current reading of line 2 supplying consumer house 2 and the current reading in line 3 supplying consumer house 3. Then those readings would be determined separately by the distribution pole grid number two smart metering system to capture the power supplied to each consumer house. It will also combine the three power distributed readings to determine the total three-phase power consumption from the distribution pole grid number two.

From the block diagram in Fig.  8 , the proposed system utilizes the following methods to accurately detect power theft attacks on the distribution feeders and consumer smart meters. The proposed system utilizes both the current and voltage sensors to measure the current readings and voltage readings, respectively, to produce the power readings measured distributed from the distribution pole grids/nodes and power consumption measured in consumer houses.

Distribution feeders’ section (detection of illegal connections): Should the power distributed by the main observer meter (from the distribution transformer smart metering system) be higher than the power received by distribution pole grid 1 smart metering system. Therefore, an illegal connection is detected between the distribution transformer and distribution pole grid 1. In addition, the power losses are known as they are measured by the system and sent to the cloud storage via GSM communication technology. The same implies if the power measured distributed from the distribution pole grid 1 smart metering system is higher than the power received by the distribution pole grid/node 2 smart metering system. An illegal connection is detected and identified between the distribution pole grid 1 and distribution pole grid 2. In addition, the power differences measured between both distribution pole grids are sent to the cloud storage for review by the authority office to issue fines to the found offers and recover revenue losses due to power theft detected.

Consumer houses section (detection of meter tampering): If consumer house F131 tampers with its smart meter to steal electricity, the proposed system can easily detect such power theft attempts. Therefore, should the power measured specifically supplying consumer house F131 from the pole node 2 smart metering system be higher than the measured power consumed by house F131 smart meter, then meter tampering is detected, and the power losses are known. They are sent to the cloud storage by the smart metering system. Again, should the power measured specifically supplying consumer house F132 from the pole node 2 smart metering system be higher than the power consumed by house F132 smart meter, then meter tampering is detected and reported to the authority office.

Authority office (side view through cloud storage): The authority office is notified with SMS alerts by the proposed system whenever a specific smart metering system detects power theft because of power imbalances measured and compared by the system. This allows the authority office to specifically review the power differences recorded on the cloud storage (MATLAB Online, ThingSpeak IoT channels display) by that particular smart metering system. In contrast, this will quickly result in the arrest of the found offenders and promptly recover the revenue losses resulting from power theft detected.

3.1 The block diagram of the power supply

Figure  9 presents a block diagram of a power supply ‘rectifier type of converter’ (AC-DC) to power an electronic circuit in each smart electric meter of the proposed real-time power theft monitoring and detection system [ 1 ].

Block diagram of (AC-DC) power supply

The power supply consists of a step-down transformer (230 V AC to 18 V AC with 6 VA). With a full-bridge (four diodes–1N4007), the step-down transformer output (18 V AC) is converted from AC to DC output. The DC output is smoothen using filter capacitors, while regulator (L7812) produces a fixed output of 12 V DC, then regulator (L7805) produces a fixed output of 5 V DC [ 1 ]. A 12 V DC output supplies the electronic circuit in each smart meter. The Arduino ATMega328P microcontrollers receive 5 V DC input from a parallel-connected 7805 voltage regulators while operating with 5 V DC. The 5 V DC output is also used to supply the GSM module and control a 5 V DC Relay Triggering Circuit, power LCD 2004 20 × 4 with blue backlight connected parallel with I 2 C serial, voltage sensors, and the current sensors.

With the proposed system, voltage sensors and current sensors are the only measuring instruments of the system. In Fig.  10 , pole grid 1 smart metering system consists of an Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller which collects the voltage measured from the voltage sensor of pole grid 1 and the current measured from the current sensor of pole grid 1. In addition, the Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller will then calibrate those readings to produce power readings to be sent to the cloud storage via a GSM technology device. Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller also collects the current measured from the current sensor of pole grid/node 2 through ‘feedback line’ with a voltage measured from the voltage sensor of pole grid 1 to determine power differences measured between the pole grids. Those power measurements are then sent to the cloud storage by the proposed double metering system for the authority office to access the electric data captured and stored online.

Detailed structure of the proposed system

3.2 The schematic diagram of the proposed system

Figure  11 presents a schematic diagram of the proposed real-time power theft monitoring and detection system with double connected data capture system that addresses both issues of meter tampering and illegal connections using one system. The schematic below includes smart meters for distribution pole grid 1 and distribution pole grid/node 2. Two consumer houses—houses F131 and F132—are presented supplied from the distribution pole node 2. Each consumer house has a smart meter to measure power consumption in the house. These circuit arrangements also included switches used to tamper with each consumer house to show accurate meter tampering detection of the system. In addition, including the switch used to tap on the distribution feeders to show how accurate the system can be to detect illegal connections tapped between the distribution pole grids. It should be noted that when designing and implementing real-time smart electric meters, it is recommended that microcontrollers such as devices like AVR/PIC microcontrollers will be applicable. In addition, GSM devices may have future challenges such as a change in SIM card sizes or network disturbances. Therefore, it will be beneficial if communication systems such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee module, LTE, IoT (i.e., 5G network), etc., are used as the network interface.

The circuit diagram for simulating the proposed real-time power theft monitoring and detection system

The proposed real-time power theft monitoring and detection system is designed consisting of devices such as Arduino ATMega328P microcontrollers, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), GSM module, and other items. The other items include current sensors and voltage sensors used to measure power distributed and/or power received by each point of the microgrid system. LCDs of the proposed system are parallel-connected with a remote expander which uses the two-line bidirectional bus (I 2 C). This I 2 C is an 8-bit input/output (I/O) powered with 5 V DC. The proposed system uses the LCDs to display power readings and meter status in terms of balanced (meter Ok) or imbalanced (fault detected). GSM module is used to send SMS notifications to alert the authority office if the system measures power imbalances. The combination of Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller with GSM device allows wirelessly transfer of captured electric data from each smart meter to the cloud storage (MATLAB Online, ThingSpeak IoT channels display). In consumer houses, these smart meters disconnect consumer load using Relay Triggering Circuit, which operates by receiving a command from Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller when there is a power imbalance measured.

3.3 System techniques used in detecting power theft

The proposed system utilizes the following methods to detect power theft attacks on the distribution feeders and consumer smart meters. The Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller on each smart meter is programmed to read the measured and captured data from the voltage and current sensors every minute (one minute). When the electric data captured is received from the measuring instruments of the system, the Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller calibrates the current readings and voltage readings to produce the power consumption. Each smart meter’s microcontroller does this by continuously measuring the instantaneous voltage (in volts) multiplied by the instantaneous current (in amperes), which are calibrated in the software installed in the controller to produce the instantaneous electrical power (in kilowatts) [ 1 ]. The current measurements are calibrated using an (Alternating Current (AC) or Direct Current (DC) sensor) ‘ACS712 sensor’ with a ratio of 1A equal to 100 mA [ 1 ]. The voltage measurements are calibrated using a self-designed voltage sensor ‘AC/DC sensor’ (consisting of a freewheel ‘1N4007’ diode to produce a DC output voltage, while the parallel-connected resistors reduce the output DC voltage) [ 1 ]. In contrast, parallel ceramic capacitors are used to keep a DC voltage stable before a microcontroller reads it. The pic resolution of step size is calculated as:

where V ref  = reference voltage, 2 n  = for a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is equal to 1024.

If the microcontroller reads a V read , then

where V PIC  = RMS voltage of the measured voltage. V read  = Digital value read from the sensor.

where I actual  = actual RMS current. mVperAmp = Millivolts per amperage.

The pic resolution calculation is the operating voltage (5 V DC) for the voltage sensor, Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller, and the current sensor which is converted to a digital signal (ADC) for a microcontroller reading. Since the value determined by the microcontroller (from a voltage sensor) is a digital value, the V PIC calculation is used to determine the actual RMS voltage converted from the digital value. Hence, the value determined by the microcontroller (from a current sensor) is also a digital value; therefore, the I Actual calculation is used to determine the actual RMS current converted from the digital value.

3.4 Simulation results (Software module)

Figure  12 presents a scenario for consumer house F131: The circuit arrangement is that S1 (Switch-1) short-circuits the current sensor in the house so that the smart meter will read fewer power readings. Consumer house F131 load draws the portion of the current that is not measured by the current sensor in the house. As a result, there is an imbalance between the power measured from the distribution pole node smart metering system supplying house F131 and the power measured at consumer house F131 since the smart meter in the consumer house is bypassed. Possible meter tampering is detected because M1 = 2060.69W and M2 = 1839.90W are different. Therefore, the power losses determined (power differences) to issue fines are (M1 – M2 = 220.79W). With the GSM technology device, a possible electricity theft incident in the consumer house F131 is reported by sending an SMS notification to the power utility. The captured data is sent to the cloud storage. The SMS notification will have the specific consumer smart metering system details and the pole grid/node where the incident happened.

Possible power theft detection in house F131 after meter tampering

Figure  13 shows how the proposed system displays results when possible power theft is detected on the distribution pole grid/node or between the distribution pole grids/nodes. In this simulation, a hypothetical scenario of an illegal connection is done between the distribution pole grids/nodes by activating switch 3 (S3) connected between distribution pole grid 1 smart metering system and the distribution pole grid/node 2 smart metering system. The distribution pole grid 1 smart metering system measured M11 = 3786.07W the power distributed from pole grid 1 to pole grid/node 2, and through the feedback line, the power received by pole node 2 smart metering system is M12 = 2657.53W. Then, the power differences measured are (M11 – M12 = 1128.54W). Therefore, a possible electricity theft is detected between the distribution pole grid 1 and the distribution pole grid/node 2 since the power distribution is not balanced. With the GSM technology device, a possible electricity theft incident detected between pole grid 1 and pole node 2 is reported to the power utility by sending an SMS notification with specific pole grid smart metering system details where the incident happened.

Possible power theft detection between the distribution pole grids after illegal connection

3.5 Cloud storage (MATLAB Online, ThingSpeak IoT)

The proposed system features an internet of things (IoT) technology. This double metering system wirelessly auto-sends the captured electric data to the cloud storage and auto-generates Short Messaging System (SMS) to inform the authority office whenever power imbalances occur between the utility pole grids/nodes. This includes respective consumer houses supplied. This system utilizes Arduino ATMega328P microcontrollers programmed to send the captured electric data through GSM technology devices that use the Vodacom internet connection to transmit this captured electric data to the cloud storage. The created cloud storage is (MATLAB Online, ThingSpeak IoT channels display). As this system is based on IoT, all the power measured using pole grids smart metering systems and consumers’ smart metering systems can be seen and monitored using an Android phone or a web portal. The authority office can easily access the stored data online using a computer or a smartphone. With Fig.  14 , a computer (two laptops) is used to access MATLAB Online account; channels display IoT project visualization where the power readings from the system are directed to store measured electric data.

Accessing cloud storage (MATLAB Online, ThingSpeak IoT)

3.6 Prototype results (Hardware module)

Figure  15 presents a whole circuit of the proposed real-time power theft monitoring and detection system with double connected data capture system ready for testing. The project implementation includes plugs used for loads testing, tampering within consumer smart meters (meter tampering), and tampering between distribution pole grids (illegal connections). The following are the project implementation specifications:

Distribution pole grid 1 smart metering set: (bottom right; M11—pole 1 power measurement, and M12—pole 2 feedback power measurement).

Distribution pole grid/node 2 smart metering set (bottom left; M22—pole 2 power measurement, M2A—house F131 power supplied measured from the pole node, and M2B—house F132 power supplied measured from the pole node).

Consumer house F131 smart metering set: (top right; M1A—house F131 power measured and M2A—pole 2 to house F131 ‘feedback’ of power measured).

Consumer house F132 smart metering set: (top left; M1B—house F132 power measured and M2B—pole 2 to house F132 ‘feedback’ of the power measured).

System implementation and system functionality tests

It should be noted that the software results produced 100% (power measurement results accuracy) in comparison and power differences measured by the system. For hardware results, due to power losses such as open circuits in plugs and unstable voltage and the flowing current in the implemented system for testing. The system is set to neglect those readings, and the threshold of power differences allowed is ±  ≤ 200W. Therefore, all these power differences permitted on the hardware module produced just over 95% (power measurement results accuracy). Therefore, any value below ± 200W in both the software module and hardware module is identified as under normal operation mode.

Figure  16 shows how possible electricity theft is detected in consumer houses when an illegal connection is connected from the distribution pole node direct to the consumer load. In Fig.  16 , both consumer houses F131 and F132 smart meters are meter tampered. The power differences are calculated using port A of pole grid/node 2 power measured, and port B of pole grid/node 2 power measured, respectively. The GSM modules of each consumer house and smart metering systems have generated SMS notifications to alert the authority office of detected meter tamping in both consumer houses. With IoT technology applications (cloud storage), the power measurements captured are analysed to issue a fine against the found offenders. In Fig.  13 , meter tampering is detected at consumer house F131 (house A) since the feedback power read from port A of pole node 2 is M2A = 1378.98W, while the measured power consumed at house F131 is M1A = 30.94W. Then, the power differences measured are (M2A – M1A = 1348.04W). Consumer house F132 (house B) is also meter tampered, and the electric theft is detected since the feedback power read from port B of pole node 2 is M2B = 1374.56W, while the measured power consumed at house F132 is M1B = 35.36W. Then, the power differences measured are (M2B – M1B = 1339.20W).

Possible meter tampering detected in house F131 and house F132

Figure  17 shows the snapshots of the received SMS notifications to the officials (authority office). The first SMS notification informs the authority office that possible meter tampering at consumer house F131 has been identified. The second SMS notification also informs the authority office that possible meter tampering at consumer house F132 has been identified. On the cloud storage, the measured values of power distributed and losses are displayed for further analysis by the authority office to issue fines and immediately recover known revenue losses resulting from the incidents.

SMS alerts for houses (meter tampering) and cloud storage results

The information displayed on the cloud ‘IoT’ storage in Fig.  17 has the following data presented in Table 1 . Table 1 consists of power measurement results for consumer houses—F131 and F132, including their power differences (meter tampering) measured between the pole node 2 of port A to consumer house F131 and pole node 2 of port B to consumer house F132.

Therefore, consumer house F131, at times 19:02:20 until 19:03:24, the power losses resulting from meter tampering detected between port A of pole node 2 and house F131 is 1348.04W. For consumer house F132, at times 19:01:46 until 19:02:50, the power losses resulting from meter tampering detected between port B of pole node 2 and house F132 is 1339.20W.

Therefore, the final power losses determined by the authority office when issuing fines are as follows:

3.6.1 For consumer house F131: final power losses determined to issue fines are as follows

where T (total duration) – is the time duration it lasted. t (begin) —the time it begins at. t (ended— the time it ended at.

where P (Pt losses) —total power losses resulted from meter tampering or illegal connection detected.

P (measured losses) —the power measured at that time.

T (total duration) —the time duration it lasted.

3.6.2 For consumer house F132: final power losses determined to issue fines are as follows

Figure  18 shows how possible power theft is detected between and/or on the distribution pole grids when there is an illegal connection on the power system grid. In Fig.  18 , the distribution pole grid 1 smart metering system had measured (M11 = 2894.97W), while the power received at the distribution pole grid/node 2 through the feedback line is (M12 = 1644.16W). Then, the power differences measured are (M11 – M12 = 1250.81W). Therefore, a possible illegal connection is detected between the distribution pole grid 1 and distribution pole grid/node 2 since the power distribution is not balanced. The authority office is notified with an SMS notification containing the exact location where the incident happened. With the use of Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller and a GSM module, the power measured distributed from pole grid 1 and power differences measured between pole grid 1 and pole node 2 are send to cloud storage for review and record purposes.

Possible electricity theft detection between the distribution pole grids after illegal connection

Figure  19 shows a received SMS notification to the officials (authority office). It informs the authority office that an illegal connection between the distribution pole grid 1 and the distribution pole grid/node 2 has been identified. On the cloud storage, the measured values of power distributed and losses are displayed for further analysis by the authority office to issue fines and immediately recover known revenue losses resulting from the incident.

SMS notification for pole grid 1 (illegal connection identified) and cloud storage results

The information displayed on the cloud ‘IoT’ storage in Fig.  19 has the following data presented in Table 2 . The table below consists of power measurement results measured distributed at pole grid 1 and power differences (illegal connections) measured between distribution pole grid 1 and distribution pole grid/node 2.

Therefore, at times 18:27:44 until 18:29:13, the power losses resulting from illegal connections between the distribution pole grid 1 and the distribution pole node 2 is 1250.81W.

Therefore, the final losses determined to issue fines are as follows:

3.7 Cloud storage-based results captured between 14h30 and 15h30 on 18 October 2021

Below are cloud storage-based test results captured between 14h30 and 15h30 on 18 October 2021. It should be noted that the authority office will only use cloud storage-based results to monitor power demand from the electricity consumers and monitor electricity theft and issue fines against the found offenders. Therefore, the captured power readings are recorded on the cloud storage (MATLAB—ThingSpeak) and are viewed by the authority office. Here, only pole grid/node 2 cloud storage results presented in the graphic display are analysed. In addition, calculations to issue fines to the found offenders are also presented and interpreted. Therefore, analysis of big data (power measurement results captured and recorded on the cloud storage in the space of one hour) are interpreted using tables and calculations as presented below.

Figure  20 shows a datasheet (graphic display) of captured electric data in the space of 1 h between 14h30 and 15h30 on 18 October 2021. These results are displayed on the cloud storage (MATLAB Online, ThingSpeak Internet of Things channels display). As shown below, datasheet 1 displays power measured distributed at pole node 2, while datasheet 2 displays a voltage measured at its peak voltage.

Pole 2 power demand measured, and the voltage stability measured

Table 3 shows the results captured by the proposed system and recorded on cloud storage in the space of 1 h. The table below shows results of power measured received and distributed from pole node 2 in the space of one hour and the voltage measurements captured at its peak-maximum voltage above 230 V. Standard single-phase voltage—230 V, the peak voltage measured is voltage: 232 V, Date: 18 October 2021, time: at all times as displayed in Fig.  20 .

Figure  21 shows a datasheet (graphic display) of captured electric data displayed on the cloud storage (MATLAB Online, ThingSpeak Internet of Things channels display). As shown below, datasheet 1 displays power supplied from pole grid/node 2 of port A to consumer house A (F131), while datasheet 2 displays power supplied from pole grid/node 2 of port B to consumer house B (F132).

House F131 (A) & house F132 (B), power distributed from the pole node

Figure  22 shows a datasheet of captured electric data displayed on the cloud storage. As shown below, datasheet 1 displays the total power measured supplying both consumer house A and consumer house B from pole grid/node 2, while datasheet 2 displays power differences measured at pole node 2.

Pole 2 sum of power distributed to houses and power difference measured

Figure  23 shows how to read the power measured and captured results online sent by the smart metering system to the created cloud storage. The captured results are accessible online on the created cloud storage (MATLAB ThingSpeak Internet of Things channels display).

Pole grid/node 2 power measurements (results display)

Table 4 shows the results captured by the proposed system and recorded on cloud storage in the space of 1 h. The table below shows the total power measured supplying both consumer house A and consumer house B from pole grid/node 2, while the table below also shows the results of power differences measured at pole node 2.

Using Table 4 , to determine the power losses (illegal connections) occurred on the distribution pole grid/node 2 at times (15:09:23) and (15:15:03), the following calculations are done:

3.7.1 At time (15:09:23), the final power losses determined to issue fines are as follows

3.7.2 at time (15:15:03), the final power losses determined to issue fines are as follows.

Therefore, the measured power losses at pole grid/node 2 are caused by illegal connections and are detected and measured by the pole grid/node smart metering system at pole node 2, and the revenue losses are known. The measured power losses are 1157.99W and 1339.20W, highlighted in Table 4 . The calculations carried out are used by the power utility (authority office) when issuing fines to the found offenders to recover power theft revenue losses.

4 Conclusion

Most power utilities worldwide suffer severe revenue losses due to the issue of power theft, mainly meter tampering and illegal connections. The proposed real-time power theft monitoring and detection system with a double metering system showed good simulation results to identify if there is meter tampering and illegal connections in the power system network [ 1 ]. At the same time, the hardware project showed how the smart electric meters of the proposed double metering system can be practically implemented in the distribution system network. The hardware project also showed how the proposed system can practically monitor and detect any illegal electricity connections on the distribution feeders and meter tampering when a consumer manipulates its smart electric meter. It further showed how the received power consumption data is displayed when read from the cloud storage using a computer or a smartphone.

Therefore, it is expected that the proposed system will play a significant role in countries such as South Africa in detecting or alleviating power theft. Including revenue recovery by the municipalities of the different cities or the power utility [ 1 ]. The benefits of implementing the proposed system are reducing asset loss and improving revenue, increasing the visibility of the power network, reducing line losses (mainly Non-Technical Losses). Before practical implementation, the system was designed on Proteus Design Suite v.8.10 SP3 software. This system was verified in the software simulation results and hardware prototype results as presented in this paper, including SMS notifications and cloud storage results analysis.

4.1 Economic feasibility

Any utility company that will consider implementing the proposed system can expect the elimination of power theft on their distribution system networks. With this proposed system, the authority office is notified with an SMS alert of where the theft is detected; this reduces data analysis time and leads to the quick arrest of the found offenders with known power losses. Nevertheless, the implementation of this system by any power utility will be costly as an extensive smart metering system will need to be installed on each pole grid and each consumer house for accurate power differences and power measurement results determined by the proposed system. In contrast, it is estimated that the power utility that would have adopted this advanced system can expect cost recovery within five years and start making a profit as power theft will be eliminated in their grid. The implementation of this system can be easily done in block mode (first metro, municipality, or town); if the implementation has an impact and revenues start increasing, they will shift to the next block until the system is fully installed in the whole region/country.

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Zulu, C.L., Dzobo, O. Real-time power theft monitoring and detection system with double connected data capture system. Electr Eng 105 , 3065–3083 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00202-023-01825-3

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Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research

Research and Statistics Center

The security of vehicles is extremely essential for vehicle owners especially to those whose hard-earned income was used to avail of one or simply, its loss would mean inconveniences to family and work. With these, it becomes the major problem of every vehicle owner. This thesis, Microcontroller-based Vehicle Security System with Tracking Capability using GSM and GPS Technologies, is a system that can be used to increase vehicle security, as it can track location of missing vehicle, and help authorities have credible evidence that the vehicle is stolen. The project uses the Global System for Mobile (GSM) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, which includes the use of GPS receiver module, GSM module, and microcontroller as its primary components. It also uses a vibration sensor that senses vehicle movement and a buzzer that sends an alarm when sensors are triggered. A confirmation message is sent to the vehicle owner of the vehicle by the device. The system also features capability of tracking the location of the vehicle with the help of the GPS receiver which gives data to the location of the vehicle by way of coordinates. These coordinates provide exact location of the motor vehicle. The SMS message that the vehicle owner will send to the device attached to the vehicle should follow correct format of limitation for successful use and the use of the four character password followed by the command. The command is for power switching or activating automatically the key switch, engine and alarm. If not observed, the device would not work. The project is deemed to provide vehicle owners the security of their vehicle. The system will not only ensure vehicle security but also lessen the threats on vehicles.

IJSRD - International Journal for Scientific Research and Development

The proposed system for vehicle tracking and anti-theft detection locking system using Gsm & Gps deals with the design & development of a theft control system for safety and security in automobiles, which is being used to prevent the theft of a vehicle. This system makes use of an embedded system contributes major roles which based on Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) technology. The proposed system is placed in the vehicle and Mobile interfaced with engine protocols. When the vehicle is being stolen, the information about vehicle is received by vehicle owner with GSM technology for corrective action. The information is forwarded to central processing system which is in the form of the text message. The controller fetch the sms and sends it to the Global Positioning System (GPS) module and GPS module reads location in the form of latitude and longitude and sends information to the user's mobile. After getting location information about vehicle the mobile, car owner can control the ignition of the vehicle's engine. Controlling action generated by Car owner or system, it will stop or lock the engine immediately. The designed unit is very simple & low cost.

ganesh kumar

In today's world almost every common man owns a vehicle. Theft is a common issue which everyone faces in parking and sometimes driving near insecure places. Vehicle security and accident prevention is more challenging. So in order to bring a solution for this problem the proposed system can be implemented. Vehicle security enhancement and accident prevention system can be developed through tracking and locking, fuel theft, accident detection and prevention, driver fatigue, pollution control and speed limiting with efficient vehicle management system. The need for this is to provide security to the vehicles by engine locking system which prevents the vehicle from unauthorized access. It can also prove beneficial to find out the exact location of the accident. This proposed work is an attempt to design such a system using global positioning system (GPS) to determine the precise location of a object, person or other asset to which it is attached and to transmit this information using GSM modem.

International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology (IJERT)

IJERT Journal

https://www.ijert.org/design-of-anti-theft-control-and-accisdent-alarm-system-using-arm-and-gsm-for-tracking-the-vehicle https://www.ijert.org/research/design-of-anti-theft-control-and-accisdent-alarm-system-using-arm-and-gsm-for-tracking-the-vehicle-IJERTV2IS90855.pdf Anti theft control system for automobiles that tries to prevent the theft of a vehicle, The main aim of the project is to track the thefted vehicles and their present location using GSM module and the design and implementation of scene of the accident alarm system based with wireless network communications based on ARM, GPS and GSM, Pre-set of treatment centre as the information processing terminal for the location display and warns the alarm for the treatment people. This system makes use of an embedded chip that has an inductive proximity sensor, which senses the key during insertion and sends a text message to the owner's mobile stating that the car is being accessed. This is followed by the system present in the car asking the user to enter a unique password. The password consists of few characters and the car key number. If the user fails to enter the correct password in three trials, a text message is sent to the police with the vehicle number and the location tracked using a GPS module. The message is also sent to the owner about the unauthorized usage. Package: LPC2148 microcontroller, GSM module, GPS module, temperature sensor and vibration sensor

arXiv (Cornell University)

Rameez Khan

Vinod Salunkhe

Gbadamosi S Lekan

Remotely controlled vehicle anti-theft system via GSM network is a system that explores the GSM network in order to produce a reliable and efficient vehicle security system. However, the design project can be viewed from two perspectives viz the hardware consideration and the software consideration. Minicom which is a terminal emulation program on Linux was utilized for the configuration of the Modem used in this project work due to its inherent advantages. Communication between the user and the vehicle sub-system is via sms (Short Messaging Service) messaging. SMS commands are sent to the GSM/GPRS Modem Module. The GSM/GPRS interpretes the message and performs necessary control actions. Also, sms messages are sent from the GSM/GPRS Modem Module to the user’s mobile phone whenever an alarm situation occurs. However, a toy car was used as a prototype display of this project work and prototype car was immobilized and demobilized from a mobile phone via SMS

Sourav Satpathy

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David Wallace-Wells

Opinion Writer

Our Carbon-Hungry World Has Already Cost Us

Even if carbon emissions stopped on a dime tomorrow, new research published in Nature on Wednesday suggests, the economic damage to come from climate change would be jaw-dropping and indeed world-shaping: a 19 percent reduction in global incomes by midcentury.

As climate economists are careful to point out, this does not suggest that in 2050, the world will be 19 percent poorer than the one we inhabit today. It’s projecting a world in 2050 that is 19 percent poorer than the one we might’ve been living in, had we not put trillions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere. The proposition is basically this: Imagine being presented in, say, 2000, with two maps of the future economy, one which landed the world at today’s level of overall wealth and one which made it 19 percent poorer. Just the warming we have already ensured, the authors write, means that we will be following the poorer path rather than the more prosperous one. And because we are still emitting — indeed, doing so at record rates — there is also more warming to come.

Disconcertingly, the authors write, this will happen whether the world decarbonizes quickly or not. Although their estimate lands at the very high end of published research, it also joins a growing number of papers emphasizing the accumulation of climate costs over time; even small climate effects, tabulated across several decades, really begin to add up.

One bit of encouraging news from climate research over the last decade has been that scientists have largely turned against what was often called “warming in the pipeline” — the idea that, even if emissions went to zero tomorrow, the planet might continue to warm as natural feedback loops played themselves out.

Instead, climate scientists have generally coalesced around a more reassuring thesis, which suggests that whenever the world hits net-zero, temperature rise will stop soon thereafter. But this does not mean that damages will stop. Stabilizing temperatures at 1.5 degrees implies decades of damage, and stabilizing the climate at 2 degrees or higher implies decades of more intense damage.

This is one of the reasons that the effort to estimate the global economic consequences of future warming has produced a disorientingly wide array of intensely debated estimates. Some models, making certain assumptions, project that even very high-end warming would only cost the global economy a few percentage points of G.D.P.; others, using different assumptions, project far higher costs. But even the moderate estimates are increasingly eye-popping .

Biden’s Steel Tariffs Are Merely Symbolic

The most important thing to know about President Biden’s request for fresh tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum is that they will make almost no difference.

In case you missed it: On Wednesday, the White House announced that Biden would use a campaign speech to steelworkers in Pittsburgh to ask his trade representative to more than triple some tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China.

The reason it doesn’t matter much is that, last year, just 2 percent of steel imported to the United States and about 3.5 percent of imported aluminum came from China, according to the Global Steel Trade Monitor and the Global Aluminum Trade Monitor of the U.S. International Trade Administration.

Customers have switched away from China because tariffs on its steel and aluminum are already high, averaging 7.5 percent, and Chinese imports are further subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duties .

So Biden’s gambit is primarily symbolic. On the downside, it won’t save many steelworker jobs, if any. On the upside, it also probably won’t cost many jobs at companies that make products from steel, since so few of them are using Chinese steel in the first place.

“This is all politics,” Paul Nathanson, the executive director of the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users, which opposes high tariffs on imported metals, told me.

Nathanson said there are approximately 68 jobs in industries that use steel for every one job in steel-making itself, which is a shadow of its former self. He said the United States has some of the highest steel prices in the world, which puts his members at a disadvantage against fabricators of steel products in other countries.

This is basic economics, but it seems to elude Biden as it eluded Donald Trump before him. Last month, Biden opposed the purchase of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel — even though Nippon is seeking to revitalize the tired American company.

Biden’s move Wednesday is primarily symbolic, as I said. But the symbolism isn’t good.

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David Firestone

Deputy Editor, the Editorial Board

An Absurd Impeachment Reaches a Satisfying End

Senate Republicans pretended to be aghast Wednesday that anyone would think of dismissing their hopes for an impeachment trial of the homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas.

“Tabling articles of impeachment would be unprecedented in the history of the Senate,” sputtered Senator Mitch McConnell , the minority leader. “It’s as simple as that.”

But Democrats nonetheless quickly dismissed the absurd charges against Mayorkas, preventing a trial with a satisfying snap of closure. A 51-vote majority of the Senate agreed the charges were unconstitutional, because they failed to specify a high crime or misdemeanor that Mayorkas had committed. And with that, the whole sorry case ended.

There was nothing particularly unprecedented about the Senate’s rejection. In 2021, after Donald Trump helped lead an insurrection against Congress, 45 Republicans (McConnell among them) voted to dismiss the impeachment charges against Trump before a trial. They failed because they lacked the numbers, but their goal was precisely the same.

What was unprecedented was the impeachment effort itself, the first against a sitting cabinet official and the first time the House had abused the Constitution’s impeachment provisions for nakedly political reasons against an executive branch official without bothering to state a significant high crime. House Republicans claimed Mayorkas had lied to Congress about the security of the southern border; in fact, they simply disagreed with him and the Biden administration about how to define a secure border, and they decided to create a fake election-year impeachment process to once again wave the immigration flag before voters.

Senate Republicans looked equally ridiculous Wednesday, frantically making repeated motions to adjourn the trial, having realized they couldn’t stop the dismissal. But Democrats held firm and did future senators a favor by setting down a marker that impeachment charges have to be serious to be considered.

They did the country a favor, too, by sparing the public a farcical trial, in which we would all have been subjected to the sight of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on the floor of the Senate as an impeachment manager. That would bring back too many uncomfortable memories of Jan. 6, 2021.

Michelle Cottle

The Real Reasons Trump Set Foot in a Bodega

With this season of “Law and Order: Presidential Campaign Hush Money” underway, Donald Trump is looking to make the most of his time back in his hometown New York, preferably not too far from the Manhattan courthouse.

After catnapping in the courtroom on Tuesday, Sleepy Don had enough pep in his step to head uptown to Harlem to drop by, as the advance announcement trumpeted , a “Bodega Victimized By Soros-Funded D.A. Alvin Bragg.”

But I should let the exquisite hyperbole of the news release speak for itself:

“Today, President Trump will be visiting the New York City bodega where Jose Alba, a New York bodega clerk, was robbed, attacked , and, ultimately, wrongfully accused of murder after being forced to defend his life. President Trump’s visit to one of New York City’s bodegas comes at a time when retail theft is skyrocketing and the New York City police force is on track to fall to its lowest numbers since the 1990s by 2025. Bodegas are a lifeline to underserved communities, and President Trump believes that only by undoing the Democrat party’s soft-on-crime policies can law and order be fully restored to every borough throughout New York City.”

For background purposes: Alba did indeed lethally stab a robber in self-defense in 2022. He was brought up on murder charges, which were dropped not three weeks later.

No matter. This Trumpian stunt is a genius bit of political theater, allowing the former president to do several things at once: Smear the granddaddy of Dem-run cities as a crime-infested hellhole; imply the city is anti-law enforcement; attack the prosecutor overseeing his criminal trial as the puppet of one of the right’s favorite supervillains; claim common cause with a fellow victim of misguided prosecutorial zeal; and, perhaps most impressive of all, pander to Hispanic voters with his oily ode to bodegas.

Seriously, when was the last time this guy set foot in a bodega? How would he know anything about an “underserved” community?

That said, if this is how the campaign wants to play things, just think of the opportunities for future field trips to places with which the defendant presumably has little or no familiarity. How about visiting a day care center next? A homeless shelter? A public school? A library? A mosque — any house of worship, really?

Would such establishments appreciate the chaos that the MAGA king invariably brings? Does it matter? These little drive-bys, like everything Trump does, are all about serving his own needs. Everyone else is just an extra in his endless melodrama.

Farah Stockman

Editorial Board Member

The Split Screen Democrats Have Been Dreaming About

For a few fleeting seconds on Tuesday, CNN showed the view of the two campaigns that the Biden campaign must be fantasizing about. On one side of the screen, President Biden was disembarking from a plane in Scranton, Pa., to give a speech about making billionaires pay their fair share of taxes. On the other side, Donald Trump was glowering in a New York courtroom, accused of falsifying business records and paying hush money to a porn star.

But CNN’s split screen didn’t last long. The network quickly switched back to dissecting the New York courtroom drama. I switched to C-SPAN to watch Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania introduce Biden — a speech that reminded voters that the Trump administration tried to pass a rule that would have allowed bar and restaurant owners to pocket the tips of waitresses and bartenders.

Then a local educator talked about the importance of the expanded child tax credit, remarking, “It’s pretty nice to have a president who sees the view from Scranton.” Then came Biden, who hammered home the message of stark contrast .

“I don’t see things from the eyes of Mar-a-Lago,” he told his audience. “I see things through the eyes of Scranton, where honesty and decency matter.”

Under a sign that read, “Tax fairness for all families,” Biden noted that there were about 1,000 billionaires in the United States and that they pay an average federal tax rate of 8.3 percent — a lower rate than most Americans pay.

His plan would require billionaires to pay at least 25 percent of their income in taxes to fund the Medicare trust fund permanently, he said. Trump, on the other hand, intends to extend his 2017 tax cuts, which simplified taxes for many people but had the principal effect of helping the wealthiest.

I suspect that coming a day after Tax Day, that message will hit home with many — if they saw it. Probably far more eyeballs were glued to news about Trump’s day in court than Biden’s day in Pennsylvania. But it is worth remembering that no matter what is happening on television, this split screen is real life.

David French

Opinion Columnist

When a Mob Gets to Veto a Valedictorian’s Speech

On Tuesday the University of Southern California canceled a planned graduation speech by its valedictorian, a young woman named Asna Tabassum. My newsroom colleague Stephanie Saul reported that the “school said the decision stemmed from security concerns based on emails and other electronic communications warning of a plan to disrupt the commencement, including at least one that targeted Ms. Tabassum.”

Shortly after Tabassum had been named valedictorian, two student groups, Trojans for Israel and Chabad, objected. Her social media bio apparently included a link to a group that condemns Zionism as a “racist settler-colonial ideology.” Trojans for Israel said Tabassum “openly traffics antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric.”

Oddly enough, Andrew T. Guzman, the university’s provost, claimed the decision to cancel Tabassum’s address “has nothing to do with freedom of speech. There is no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement.” While Guzman may be correct as a matter of broad legal principle — there is no right to be a graduation speaker — he is completely wrong that the decision to cancel has nothing to do with free speech.

In fact, canceling a speech because of future safety concerns is a more egregious form of censorship than the classic “ heckler’s veto ,” when protesters silence speakers by disrupting their speeches. U.S.C.’s decision to cancel Tabassum’s speech was a form of anticipatory heckler’s veto. U.S.C. canceled the speech before the heckling could even start.

To support Tabassum’s ability to speak is not to minimize very real safety concerns in a tense and volatile time. In February, for example, a violent mob at the University of California, Berkeley, forced attendees to evacuate an event featuring a speaker from Israel. But it is the responsibility of the state and the university to protect both the liberty and the security of their students and guests.

I disagree strongly with condemnations of Zionism as racist, and I think it would be a serious mistake if Tabassum chose to commandeer her commencement platform to express such views. But I’m far more concerned about setting yet another precedent showing that threats and intimidation work than I am about the content of a single graduation speech. It is exactly when security feels most precarious that American institutions must be most vigilant in the defense of freedom.

The alternative is grim. If a fail-safe method of silencing speech is summoning a mob, or even merely threatening to summon a mob, then expect to see more mobs.

Jesse Wegman

The Supreme Court May Side With Jan. 6 Rioters and Their Leader

Because of a couple of ambiguous words in a federal law, a majority of the Supreme Court seems poised to throw out hundreds of convictions of Jan. 6 attackers. That was the main takeaway after oral arguments Tuesday morning in a case challenging the Justice Department’s reliance on an Enron-era law in prosecuting some of the more than 1,200 rioters who broke down barricades and stormed the Capitol in a violent effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The right-wing justices, who sound increasingly as if they were dictating replies to a MAGA social media thread, expressed concern about the risk of selective prosecution. Why, they asked, hasn’t the same law been used against Black Lives Matter protesters or, say, Representative Jamaal Bowman, the Democratic lawmaker who pulled a fire alarm in Congress last year?

It’s fair to ensure that laws are applied equally, but this line of questioning from these particular justices was, at best, disingenuous. They seemed to forget that there is no precedent for a violent mob invading Congress in an attempt to block a constitutionally mandated vote count and overthrow an election. (Bowman, in contrast, was censured by his colleagues for his stupid and reckless but not insurrectionist act.)

The bigger question looming behind Tuesday’s arguments involved the man who incited the Jan. 6 mob: Donald Trump, the former and perhaps future president. Jack Smith, the special counsel, included violations of the same law in one of his federal indictments of Trump, and if the court tosses the charge in the cases of the relatively low-level attackers, Trump will surely exploit that in his case.

Of course, Trump’s own Jan. 6 trial, which was supposed to begin in early March, has been on hold for months, thanks to his outrageous claim of absolute immunity, which the justices agreed last month to hear on an oddly relaxed schedule . Oral arguments are more than a week off, and a ruling might not come until late June.

If there’s any silver lining in all this, it’s that Smith will know by then what the court thinks of this obstruction charge, and he can adapt his Jan. 6 prosecution accordingly.

In the meantime, Congress may want to update the federal criminal code for the age of Trumpism.

Jonathan Alter

Contributing Opinion Writer

Trump’s Plan to Expose the Secret Bias of Jurors Isn’t Working

It isn’t easy being orange in Manhattan, but it helps to have a bunch of jury consultants scouring the web for anyone with a sense of humor about you. Even spouses making bad orange jokes.

Donald Trump’s legal team isn’t wrong to be concerned about bias. In the first batch of potential jurors in his hush-money trial, more than half volunteered that they could not be fair and were dismissed. And when a former Lands’ End employee was found to have posted in 2017 on Facebook to “lock him up,” Justice Juan Merchan rightly dismissed the potential juror for cause. Same for a bookseller who posted an A.I. parody video of Trump saying he is “dumb as ….”

But as the court seated seven jurors on Tuesday (out of 12, plus a half-dozen alternates), Trump and his lawyers tried the judge’s patience.

I wish there were audio footage of the angry voice from the bench when Merchan told Trump’s lawyers that the defendant “was audible, he was gesturing and he was speaking in the direction of the juror. I will not tolerate that. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”

A few minutes later, the still-irritated judge said he thought that Trump’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, was using the jury selection process to — wait for it — delay the proceedings. When Blanche tried to have a high school teacher from the Upper West Side dismissed for cause because she had taken a cellphone video of a street dance party on 96th Street celebrating Joe Biden’s victory, the judge summoned the potential juror. After ascertaining that she was sincere in her assurance that she could be fair, he refused to dismiss her for cause.

And Merchan rebuked Blanche for also offering a video the juror took of New Yorkers saluting health care workers by banging pots and pans each night at the start of the Covid pandemic. Blanche suggested the video was disqualifying, but the judge said there was “nothing offensive” about it, adding that making such irrelevant challenges was a waste of everyone’s time.

When the defense wanted Juror No. 3 dismissed for cause because her husband posted three joking photos (one during the transition from Barack Obama to Trump with the caption “I don’t think this is what they meant by ‘orange is the new black’”), the judge was not amused.

“If this is the worst thing you were able to find,” he said, “that her husband posted this not very good humor from eight years ago, it gives me confidence that this juror could be fair and impartial.”

Will Trump finally get the message that he’s not calling the shots? Not likely, but the judge will almost certainly keep delivering it for the duration of this trial.

Bret Stephens

The Assault on American Jews Is Getting Worse

Ten years ago, the Anti-Defamation League released its annual audit of antisemitic incidents in the United States. The group reported just 751 incidents targeting Jews in 2013, a 19 percent drop from the previous year.

“In the last decade we have witnessed a significant and encouraging decline in the number of antisemitic acts in America,” Abraham Foxman, the A.D.L.’s director at the time, said in a news release. “The falling number of incidents targeting Jews is another indication of just how far we have come in finding full acceptance in society.”

That was then. On Tuesday, the A.D.L. released its audit for 2023 . It recorded 8,873 antisemitic incidents in the United States — a 140 percent increase over 2022 and a tenfold increase over a decade ago. The numbers include 161 physical assaults, 2,177 acts of vandalism and 1,009 bomb threats against synagogues and other Jewish institutions, as compared to 91 bomb threats for 2022. Jewish cemeteries were desecrated 13 times last year, up from four times the year before.

Much of the increase came after Hamas’s massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, and the A.D.L. changed its methodology somewhat to take account of anti-Zionist expressions it deemed to be effectively antisemitic. But even without the methodology changes, the A.D.L. would still have recorded 7,523 antisemitic incidents last year.

What do some of these incidents look like? The report offers dozens of examples.

In February 2023, a man shot two Jewish men as they were leaving a synagogue. In May, “swastikas made of feces were smeared in a residence hall bathroom at the University of California, San Diego.” In July, a group of about 20 people assaulted three Jewish teens at New York’s Rockaway Beach after noticing that one of the teens was wearing a Star of David. In October, Jemma DeCristo , a professor in American studies at the University of California, Davis, threatened “Zionist journalists”: “they have houses w addresses, kids in school,” she wrote, before signing off with knife, hatchet and blood emojis.

Antisemitism can be difficult to define — a fact that has long offered antisemites an opportunity to hide their prejudice behind terminology. But as Justice Potter Stewart once said about pornography — “I know it when I see it” — so it could be said about hatred of Jews.

To see it in America today, you don’t have to look very far.

New York’s Flawed Housing Deal Still Deserves Approval

New York’s politicians have finally struck a deal to address the state’s disastrous housing crisis, the most pressing issue facing the region.

The deal, announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers Monday, is solicitous of real estate interests. But it may help accomplish some of what the state and its tenants need anyway.

Under the compromise, which would be included in the state budget, developers would receive generous tax incentives to build more housing. In exchange, developers would make 20 percent of the units affordable. A limit on building sizes would be raised, providing an incentive for more construction in New York City. Owners of rent-stabilized buildings could charge higher rents for making improvements. Hochul officials say the plan would lead to just under 190,000 units of new housing in the state over the next decade.

Tenants in New York City would win new protections against evictions, a long-sought goal. But other benefits for tenants are weak. Municipalities outside the city would have to opt in to the protections, which would prohibit owners of market-rate buildings from increasing the rent by more than 10 percent over the previous year, or 5 percentage points above the rate of inflation. There is a feast of exemptions, including properties with 10 or fewer units, and new units built wouldn’t be covered under the protections for the first 30 years. The weakness of these tenant protections, which have been fought hard by groups like the Real Estate Board of New York, is a reflection of the industry’s continued outsize sway on state politics.

But as flawed as this compromise is, walking away from it entirely would be irresponsible.

Four in 10 New York State residents are spending 30 percent of their income or more on housing. More than half of New York City residents are doing the same. Evictions are up nearly 200 percent .

Doing nothing isn’t an option. Instead, lawmakers and state officials can work quickly to make the deal better. Tenant protections can be strengthened. Allowing residents to rent accessory dwelling units, known as in-law apartments, would also be a win.

Truly facing this crisis will require bigger fights, like confronting restrictive zoning laws in Westchester and Long Island that have made it almost impossible to build multifamily housing. It’s also past time to reform New York City’s embarrassingly regressive property tax system, in which renters get stuck with most of the bill.

Residents, voters and businesses invested in New York City need to build a powerful pro-housing coalition, one that not even Albany can ignore.

Trump Beats Biden on the Economy, Voters Say. Are They Right?

President Biden must be tearing his hair out over the latest New York Times/Siena College poll of likely voters. Half of the respondents describe economic conditions as “poor.” Only 20 percent say they strongly approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, while 45 percent strongly approve of Donald Trump’s handling of the economy as president.

This would make sense if the economy were in recession, but the opposite is true. The Covid-19 recession happened while Trump was still in office, and the economy has snapped back powerfully since. On Monday, the Census Bureau released retail sales data for March that economists described as “solid,” “strong” and “booming.”

To be clear, what this means is that there are some likely voters whose opinions and actions don’t line up. They’re saying the economy is poor, but they’re behaving as if things are really good. How is Biden supposed to respond to this in his economic speech in Scranton, Pa., on Tuesday, without antagonizing voters by telling them they’re wrong?

Here’s a chart I made based on the Times/Siena poll about the two presidents’ handling of the economy:

And here’s one about economic conditions, which only 5 percent of likely voters rate as excellent:

I asked Ludovic Subran, the chief economist of Allianz Research in Germany, for his explanation of the divergence between the economy’s performance and voters’ perceptions. He put it into an international perspective. Around the world, he said, voters have turned against people who were in office when the inflation shock hit. Biden’s predicament doesn’t look unusual from that point of view.

Subran also said that inequality has increased during the recovery from the pandemic because the strong stock market has lifted the wealth of the stock-holding class. He attributed part of the stock market gains to the Biden administration’s policies, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which directed government aid to companies that are investing in the fight against climate change. (Partially offsetting that, wage gains have been strongest at the bottom end of the income scale.)

The good news for Biden in the Times/Siena poll is that the two candidates are nearly tied in terms of whom voters would pick if the election were held today. But if Biden can’t persuade voters that he’s better than Trump on the economy — or at least somewhere in that neighborhood — his re-election campaign will remain in peril.

Justice Merchan Starts to Hold Trump Accountable

Beyond seeing its historical importance, those of us covering the Trump trial expected the first day to be relatively uneventful, with housekeeping details and rules of the road for jury selection. But it turned out that the morning also had the first stirrings of accountability for Donald Trump.

As part of the pretrial housekeeping, Justice Juan Merchan delivered the so-called Parker warnings on courtroom behavior directly to the defendant, reminding him that he could be jailed if he disrupted the proceedings.

Trump, who earlier seemed to be dozing, muttered, “I do,” when asked if he understood this and the other elements of the warning, which Merchan was delivering to Trump for a second time — now orally — just to make sure it sank in.

Then the former president had to sit and listen to a discussion of the admissibility of his years of witness intimidation, his arguably illegal social media posts and his efforts to use The National Enquirer to destroy his rivals. The jury didn’t hear any of this, but Trump and everyone else in the courtroom did.

All morning, Trump’s side only won once: when Merchan ruled that during the testimony of Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, there could be no mention in front of the jury of Trump’s wife being pregnant and then being with a newborn (Barron Trump) at home when McDougal says they were having a long-running affair.

At one point, Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney, saw that his slumped client was looking straight ahead, dejected. He reached out and patted Trump on the back.

Merchan said he would hold a hearing on April 23 on the prosecution’s motion that Trump be held in contempt of court and possibly jailed for three Truth Social posts attacking Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, which seemed to be a clear violation of Merchan’s gag order preventing Trump from trying to intimidate witnesses.

Merchan indicated that he would reject Trump’s go-to argument that he was just responding in kind.

In the meantime, Merchan was also concerned about the logistics of accommodating Trump’s desire to be heavily involved in jury selection. Part of that process can take place in conference, outside the courtroom, if a potential juror wants to talk to Merchan and the lawyers in private. The unspoken worry hanging over the courtroom: Would a potential juror feel intimidated if Trump, exercising his right, was there, too?

Merchan is working that out. He reminds me of the old deodorant ad for Ice Blue Secret. The bespectacled, snow-haired Merchan is “cool, calm and collected” and will do a terrific job in this trial.

Frank Bruni

Have Voters Really Forgotten Trump’s Presidency?

Memory plays tricks on us. It’s famously unreliable. That’s the bane of estranged lovers weighing the wisdom of reconciliation. Of jurors determining the credibility of a witness.

And of Americans deciding how to vote in a presidential election? The latest poll by The New York Times and Siena College makes me wonder.

The poll, published Saturday, shows Donald Trump holding on to a slight edge of 46 percent to 45 percent over President Biden. And it includes this detail: When survey respondents were asked whether they remember the years of Trump’s presidency as “mostly good,” “mostly bad” or “not really good or bad,” 42 percent said “mostly good,” while just 33 percent said “mostly bad.”

Mostly good? Which part? His first impeachment? His second? All the drama at the border (because, yes, there was drama at the border then, too)? All the drama in the West Wing? The revolving door of senior administration officials, his good-people-on-both-sides response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., his wishful musings about violent attacks on journalists and Democrats, his nutty soliloquies at news conferences early in the coronavirus pandemic, his recklessly cavalier handling of his own Covid infection, his incitement of the Jan. 6 rioting, the rioting itself?

Those were the days.

I realize that the “mostly good” camp comprises many MAGA loyalists who will simply answer any Trump-related question in a Trump-adoring way. Tribalism triumphs. I realize, too, that Americans tend to prioritize economic realities in assessments of this kind, and that much of what they’re remembering and referring to are the lower prices of housing, food and other essentials during Trump’s presidency.

But I fear that they’re forgetting too much else in a wash of voter nostalgia . A fresh presidential bid by someone who was in and then away from the White House isn’t just highly unusual. It’s a memory test — and, in the case of a politician as potentially destructive as Trump, a profoundly important one.

Americans unhappy with Biden’s presidency need no reminders about why. They’re living it every day. But their present discontent may be claiming the space on their mental hard drives where their past discontent was stored, purging all the discord and disgrace that created Biden’s opening.

Absence makes the Trump grow stronger.

As History Is Made, Trump Can Only Glare in Silent Fury

On Monday morning, those of us fortunate enough to have a seat in the courtroom will feel the hush of history as Justice Juan Merchan opens the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump. This will be the first time since the founding of the American republic that a president of the United States has gone on trial in a criminal court.

As jury selection begins, my thoughts will inevitably turn to this striking lack of precedent. Richard Nixon was pardoned, Bill Clinton was disbarred, and Ulysses S. Grant paid a ticket for speeding in his carriage, but none faced a criminal trial.

This case is about highly credible charges that Trump falsified business records as part of a scheme to silence an adult film star and tilt the outcome of the 2016 election.

The prosecution’s argument that this is a 2016 election interference case is prompting Trump to pursue his usual I’m-rubber-you’re-glue strategy and claim that it’s really the judge and the Manhattan district attorney who are interfering — in the 2024 election. But he won’t be able to make that argument inside the courtroom.

Trump will probably have to settle for sitting silently and glaring at the judge. He is a domineering client, even when it’s not in his interest, and he’ll probably weaken his case by forcing his lawyers to back his ridiculous claim that the whole extramarital affair is made up. They’ll have a better shot arguing that the hush-money payments were not illegal and Trump did not intentionally break tax and campaign finance laws.

Among the witnesses expected to testify are Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime fixer turned major accuser, whose credibility will be a big issue; Hope Hicks, Trump’s former press secretary, who could help corroborate Cohen’s testimony; Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels), the porn star who received $130,000 in payments Trump is charged with laundering through Cohen; Karen McDougal, a former Playboy playmate of the year who also received hush money; and David Pecker, the National Enquirer chief testifying for the prosecution, whose catch-and-kill scheme to bury dirt on Trump will open a window on how tabloid journalism, well, changed world history.

Trump claimed on Friday that he’s willing to testify, but that may be just his usual posturing. If he rejects the pleading of his attorneys and takes the stand, cross-examination about his many lies would be admissible.

I’ll be back on Monday afternoon with a report on how the day went.

Patrick Healy

Deputy Opinion Editor

Could These Two Twists Change the 2024 Race?

Every Monday morning on The Point, we kick off the week with a tipsheet on the latest in the presidential campaign. Here’s what we’re looking at this week:

Donald Trump has spent this year projecting political strength. His renomination was inevitable , and he has been ahead of Joe Biden in many battleground state polls and national polls. Keep in mind: Trump rarely led in general election polls 2016 and 2020, making his strength in the first quarter of 2024 notable. It’s one reason there’s so much talk of him winning the presidency this year.

But this week? It’s the start of the Trump vulnerability chapter of the campaign. I haven’t seen him looking this vulnerable since his 2022 Senate endorsements blew up in his face. The reasons are two twists in the race: the Trump trial and abortion.

As everyone knows, Trump’s trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial is set to start Monday in Manhattan. Trump has never faced a criminal jury trial in his life. I don’t think he ever thought one of these criminal trials would actually happen — he’s been an escape artist his whole life. The big question: Will this trial actually change anyone’s opinion of Trump when so much about his bad behavior is already baked into our brains? I think a conviction might — there’s some polling that suggests that independents and some Trump leaners would be less likely to vote for him if he’s convicted, especially of a criminal cover-up. Based on a lot of years reporting with voters, and our Times Opinion focus groups, I think voting for a recently convicted criminal for president will be a bridge too far for some Americans otherwise inclined to back him.

On issues, Trump has boxed himself into a position on abortion that he thought was awfully clever when he rolled it out: Let each state decide its abortion law. Then Arizona’s Supreme Court did just that, upholding a ban from 1864. I’ve rarely seen Trump look as slippery and untrustworthy with his own base, and he’s running away from abortion as far as he can. Do swing voters really believe him when he says he wouldn’t sign a national abortion ban if he had the chance? Doubt it.

As you’ll keep hearing, the election is more than six months away, and so much can change: we barely know how the Iranian attack on Israel might affect things, for instance. But for all those known unknowns, one thing is clear: Trump is entering his riskiest phase yet of the race.

Trump and O.J.: Antiheroes in a Cracked Mirror

In the mid-1990s, I spent an afternoon in the courtroom covering O.J. Simpson’s criminal trial in Los Angeles. The effect of being there — like the effect of seeing Donald Trump in court during pretrial proceedings in New York — was to shrink the whole spectacle into something more quotidian. In person, the carnival looks not just smaller than it does on TV but also a little pathetic.

I’ll be covering Trump’s hush-money trial in New York beginning Monday for Times Opinion. It won’t be televised, but the comparisons between the two cases and two men are already so common that The Los Angeles Times made a typo — or Freudian slip — on Thursday, referring to Trump when the obit writer meant Simpson.

Yes, both cases are media circuses revolving around shameless and manipulative antiheroes who have exploited race for their advantage. Both tap into the weakness Americans have for toxic celebrities who play victim as they stick it to the man. Both lead millions to despair over whether justice can ever prevail.

But the similarities can be misleading and not just because the Simpson trial was for murder and the Trump case is about falsifying business records.

While murder is obviously more serious legally and morally, the fate of a former president of the United States indicted on 88 counts across four criminal cases in four jurisdictions is more serious and important historically than the fate of a former N.F.L. star who did TV ads for Hertz.

Simpson’s epic journey — with its mix of fame, race and violence — was a quintessentially American story. The Trump saga has all of that plus immense political stakes, but the fundamental question remains: Is he un-American or in the American grain?

Trump’s shocking victory in 2016 did not settle the matter. We will learn in this trial what almost every political consultant in both parties agrees on: that Trump would have lost that year and been reduced to a footnote if Stormy Daniels had told her story on the heels of the “Access Hollywood” debacle, which sent his campaign reeling. He won only because the 2016 election ended with the focus on Hillary Clinton’s emails.

So beyond legal culpability and political maneuvering, what’s at stake in this trial and this election is whether Trump is an aberration or the embodiment of a new, darker American identity.

Both Simpson and Trump are mirrors reflecting two images of America — one Black, one white, in Simpson’s case; one Democratic, one Republican, in Trump’s. All of the mirrors are cracked and coming apart, with the shards sharp enough to puncture any remaining illusions we have about ourselves.

What about Equifax and TrustedID?

Pricing compared, identity theft: what you need to know, more security and internet recommendations, best identity theft protection and monitoring services for 2024.

If you suspect your identity may have been stolen, these identity theft protection services can help you.

David Gewirtz

CNET staff -- not advertisers, partners or business interests -- determine how we review the products and services we cover. If you buy through our links, we may get paid.

• LifeLock See at LifeLock
• IdentityForce $100 at IdentityForce
• Identity Guard $80 at IdentityGuard
• Complete ID $108 at Complete ID
• ID Watchdog $150 at ID Watchdog
• Identity Fraud $100 at Identity Fraud
• PrivacyGuard $120 at PrivacyGuard
• McAfee Identity Theft Protection Standard $40 at McAfee Identity Theft Protection

Identity theft is a serious matter. Someone stealing your identity can open you up to a host of issues that may destroy your life if you aren’t careful. And according to the  Identity Theft Research Center , these cybercrimes are on the rise, with data compromises increasing by 68% in 2021 alone. This is why you need to protect yourself with one of the best identity theft protection services available. 

Falling victim to one of these crooks could result in your credit being directly attacked. They might even commit other crimes and cause additional problems with your stolen identity. Your Social Security number, bank account and more are at risk, which is why you need to be proactive in protecting yourself.

The best way to safeguard your personal information is to make use of the best identity theft protection services to suit your needs. These services typically offer ID protection, credit monitoring and more to keep your sensitive data away from prying eyes. Our top picks for the best identity theft protection and monitoring services can help safeguard your identity and proactively monitor suspicious activity and assist with recovery if you become a victim of a data breach.  

ID theft protection is only going to become more essential. In 2019 alone, there were  more than 13 million US identity fraud cases , with victims losing nearly $17 billion, along with untold damage to credit reports. The  2017 Equifax breach  was the icing on a nasty cake -- one that got  even worse  in the following years. One of the biggest 2020 data breaches was the  Marriott hack , which affected over 5 million customers. That followed an earlier breach of Marriott’s Starwood reservation system, in which the personal information of more than 380 million guests was compromised, including  more than 5 million passport numbers .

In this directory, we’ll look at some of the best options for helping you manage and protect your identity at various price levels. We’ll also explain the difference between an identity theft protection company and a credit monitoring service. Before we get started, keep in mind that you don’t have to spend $10 to $30 a month for the best identity theft protection service. The US government offers  IdentityTheft.gov , an identity restoration service that can help a victim report and recover from identity theft.

Read more :   How to Prevent Identity Theft

We’ll jump straight to the top choices for the best identity theft protection service options for ID monitoring, credit monitoring and more. Keep reading to review additional important information and facts about ID theft and ID protection. This list is updated frequently.

LifeLock  has come a long way since the days when it was subject to multiple Federal Trade Commission investigations ( settled in 2015 ) and various lawsuits from customers and credit reporting agencies. That might give one pause before declaring it the best identity theft protection even if it does have great features. However, In 2017, it became a  subsidiary of Symantec , purchased for $2.3 billion.

You may recall the ads where LifeLock’s founder posted his Social Security number everywhere, as a statement in his confidence about LifeLock’s protection services. While he did  experience numerous instances of identity theft  based on those Social Security number postings, LifeLock’s theft protection services helped him recover.

The company offers a wide range of identity monitoring and protection options, including stolen wallet protection, ID verification monitoring, home title monitoring and checking and savings account application alerts.

LifeLock’s  ID theft protection services range from around $9 a month to $20 a month the first year. Terms apply. Reimbursement of $25,000 to $1 million is available, depending on the monitoring plan. The lower-price protection services monitor credit only from one credit bureau. The $20-a-month identity theft protection plan monitors all three major credit bureaus. You can pull credit reports once a year, but the service will provide you with a credit score monthly, based on Experian data.

SSN and credit alerts, dark web monitoring, alerts on suspicious activity like crimes committed under your name and credit card activity and fraud alert services are all marks in LifeLock’s favor, despite its past stumbles.

LifeLock Terms of Service

IdentityForce

IdentityForce  offers two tiers of service: UltraSecure and UltraSecure Plus Credit, the latter of which includes credit reports and scores. We liked how the credit score monitoring not only watches all three reporting agencies but provides a visual tracker that lets you examine your credit rating over time.

IdentityForce  identity theft protection monitoring includes quite a lot beyond credit information. It checks for public information record changes, address changes, court and arrest records and payday loan applications, and checks for identity information on a variety of illicit identity-sharing websites to act as a guard dog from identity thieves. The company also monitors sex offender registries to see if your name is associated with such things. We also like that it tracks SSNs for new usages or associations with new names.

Its mobile app has been updated with a feature called Mobile Attack Control. This monitors your smartphone for spyware and insecure Wi-Fi locations, as well as “spoof” networks (networks that act as if they’re legitimate connections but they’re not). Additionally, the phone app will present alerts if there are security issues monitored by IdentityForce that need immediate attention.

The company did not disclose frequency of service monitoring (beyond credit reporting agencies). That said, we liked how the company has an interesting credit score simulator which can help you understand how different balances, payments and balance transfers might have an impact on your credit score. IdentityForce offers a 14-day free trial version, so you can see if it offers the best identity theft protection for your needs.

Right now, the UltraSecure program is $150 per year (or $15 for a monthly plan), and the UltraSecure Plus Credit for individuals is $200 per year (or $20 per month).

IdentityForce Terms of Service

Identity Guard

The big pitch for  Identity Guard  is that it’s powered by IBM’s Watson. Earlier versions of Watson have done everything from  winning at Jeopardy  to helping doctors diagnose cancer. The version of Watson powering Identity Guard is, as you’d expect, focused on identity theft.

Identity Guard’s  use of Watson involves building a corpus of knowledge and continuing to feed it information from many different sources, including social networks. There’s no doubt the Watson-enabled service can help advise you on identity management. Its service monitors the customer’s personal information for ID theft, including your credit files, DOB and SSN.

Identity Guard offers a  clear summary  of its insurance terms, which is very helpful for determining whether it’s the best identity theft protection for you. The company offers a basic plan at around $6 a month, but it doesn’t provide credit monitoring. If you want monthly credit report updates, that jumps to $13 a month and includes credit monitoring from three credit bureaus and a monthly credit score. Its most comprehensive plan is the Identity Guard Ultra plan, which costs $20 a month and includes annual credit reports.

Identity Guard Terms of Service

Complete ID

Complete ID  is a service provided by Experian, one of the big three credit reporting agencies, and is exclusively available to Costco members. Costco Executive members pay $9 a month plus an optional $3 a month for child protection, and Gold Star Costco members pay $14 a month and an optional $4 a month for child protection.

Complete ID provides an annual credit report from the three agencies. It also offers monthly credit scores and provides a nice graph over time so you can see how your score has improved. These perks may help make it the best identity theft protection if you’re seeking multiple services in one.

The identity monitoring service offers monitoring for unauthorized use of your Social Security number and other noncredit identity monitoring to help prevent you from being the victim of stolen identity. A valuable feature is its neighborhood watch, updated monthly, which provides details on sexual predators and crimes in your area.

As with all of the services we’re spotlighting,  Complete ID  offers $1 million in limited identity theft insurance. And unlike some of the competitors listed here, it has a  clear summary of benefits . Base price (for Costco Executive members): $108 a year.

Complete ID Terms of Service

ID Watchdog

ID Watchdog  describes its service as “True Identity Protection.” The company’s big differentiator is helping you recover after you’ve been the victim of an identity theft experience. It offers a  guarantee  of “100% identity theft resolution,” but the fine print introduces some notable limits.

First, the company will only help you if it detects a new incident of fraud while you’re an active customer. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll get back any money you lost, but it will provide access to its team of Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialists.

Like all the other commercial identity monitoring services we’ve profiled in this directory,  ID Watchdog  offers a $1 million identity theft insurance policy. But that policy’s exact terms, limits and benefits aren’t spelled out until you complete the signup process.

The base program doesn’t provide a credit report or credit score information, but if you sign up for the premium $220-per-year service, you can get a copy of your credit report and your credit score. The catch? You get that report once a year. You can already do that yourself, for free, by going to  annualcreditreport.com . Still, if you don’t need to check your credit often, this might make sense as the best identity theft protection for you.

While the company says that it provides monitoring services, it does not specify, anywhere in its terms and conditions, how often it performs checks for each type of service it monitors.

ID Watchdog Terms of Service

Identity Fraud

One of  Identity Fraud’s  standout features is price. It has the second-lowest entry-level price of any of the services we explored. The company also offers a business cybercrime protection service called  BizLock . Those two facts alone make it the best identity theft protection for some.

Identity Fraud’s personal service is $100 a year, with a bump to $160 a year for credit reporting and monitoring. Like all our other identity theft prevention contenders,  Identity Fraud  offers $1 million in fraud insurance (except for those in New York state, where the limit is $25,000 in coverage), with a $0 deductible. And we like that Identity Fraud’s  insurance benefits are clear and easy to find .

The company does provide a credit score, but it’s limited to data from TransUnion, one of the three credit-reporting agencies. The company will send you a monthly “no news is good news” email if your identity has had a quiet month. It also offers lost wallet services, along with identity resolution and prevention assistance.

Identity Fraud Terms of Service

PrivacyGuard

PrivacyGuard  offers a 14-day trial program, but instead of it being free, you have to pay a buck. So while you can still see if you like the program, the company loses all the friction-reducing benefits of trial-to-live conversions by requiring users to jump through that dollar hoop at the beginning of the relationship. Go figure.

Beyond the slightly shoot-themselves-in-the-foot trial program, PrivacyGuard provides many of the usual credit and identity protection services offered by its competitors. It offers daily credit monitoring, a key value in protecting a person’s identity against identity thieves, and a frequency level sorely lacking among many of the company’s competitors.

PrivacyGuard ‘s base $10-per-month program does record scans. A $20-a-month program does credit scans. A $25-per-month program does both. Like most other vendors, Privacy Guard offers a $1 million policy. Prior to signing up, the company provides some information about the policy’s benefits and limitations, but not enough for it to be useful for making a purchasing decision.

PrivacyGuard updates credit scores monthly and monitors public records and Social Security numbers. It also offers a yearly public records report, which provides all of the public records information that it’s found in one clear document.

PrivacyGuard offers a trial version.

PrivacyGuard Terms of Service

McAfee Identity Theft Protection Standard

McAfee’s identity theft protection service  is the least expensive we’ve seen for a year of coverage. You can get a full year of basic coverage for $50 as introductory pricing for new customers, and it includes antivirus protection. This is substantially less expensive than the other players we’ve discussed here.

It offers a slick “cyber monitoring” service that constantly scans for credit activity and alerts you if something unusual happens. The company does monitor your Experian credit file but doesn’t connect to either TransUnion or Equifax.

Like most other vendors, it offers to reimburse up to $1 million for identity recovery (unless you’re in New York state), and its recovery service will also return up to $10,000 in stolen funds. As an added benefit, if you lose your wallet, the company will do its best to reissue “a variety of contents from IDs and credit cards to concert tickets.”

McAfee is probably best known as an antivirus company founded by its  very  eccentric eponymous founder, John McAfee. In 2011, Intel bought the company and renamed it Intel Security Group but by 2017, McAfee (now known as McAfee LLC) was back out on its own, having been spun out to TPG Capital (although Intel still owns a minority stake).

We’re telling you all this because the company’s DNA is very clearly antivirus. A presales call to the company asking about its identity theft program first resulted in complete confusion about how many devices we wanted antivirus installed on, and then, once transferred to the “identity theft department,” culminated in our editor attempting to explain to the rep what credit reporting agencies did and why you’d care about them.

That doesn’t mean the product itself is bad. Fortunately, just about all of this service is automated and there’s never been any question about McAfee’s software chops. If its automated systems see odd behavior for one of your tracked accounts, those alerts may be your first and best protection when you need to secure your credit.

The company actually offers four tiers of identity protection service. Its Premium plan is the aforementioned $40 for the first year.

McAfee Terms of Service

Ah,  Equifax . If you already have an ID monitoring service, it may well be because of this company, which is the poster child for bad security. One of the big three credit reporting agencies, Equifax had no less than  five major   data breaches  in 2017, affecting nearly every American who has a credit history. In the months that followed, we learned that things  may have somehow even been worse  than originally known.

And the company’s ham-fisted response to each data breach made matters worse: At one point, the company was  directing users to a fake help site” target=”_blank . And the site it set up to provide free credit account monitoring after the data breach was originally  also vulnerable to hackers .

Heads rolled,  executives left , and the  company’s reputation is in tatters . And yet, thanks to a tepid response from the federal government, it’s unclear if anything has really changed. Equifax remains one of three major companies -- Experian and TransUnion being the other two -- that pass judgment on whether we’re all credit-worthy. 

For better or worse, many people took advantage of Equifax’s offer of a free year’s membership to TrustedID, its commercial identity theft service. But that offer -- originally available to anyone with a Social Security number -- has ended. (It required that you register by Jan. 31, 2018.)

The service provides a copy of your  Equifax  credit report, a lock on your Equifax data by third parties (with some exceptions), credit monitoring from all three credit bureaus, monitoring of your SSN on what Equifax calls “suspicious” websites and a very limited $1 million identity theft insurance policy.

We understand if you took advantage of the offer while it was free. That said, we just can’t recommend doing business with a company that has demonstrated such contempt for security protocols -- let alone customers. Any of the alternative protection services listed above would be a better option. 

The base prices of each service are presented below, from lowest to highest. Note that the more expensive ones almost always offer additional perks, such as more frequent credit reports from credit bureaus. 

ID monitoring yearly pricing

These are some key things to keep in mind about the best identity theft protection and ID monitoring services.

Early detection is key . If you’re signing up for one of these protection services, it’s less about preventing the initial breach and saving you from being a victim of identity theft -- that’s somewhat out of your hands, unfortunately. Instead, the best identity theft protection is about getting a heads-up as soon as possible on suspicious activity to prevent you from needing to do a credit freeze or more to stop an identity thief. Whether your credit card has charges on it you never incurred, or you suddenly discover that loan collectors are trying to collect amounts you never borrowed, thanks to thieves halfway across the country -- or thieves halfway around the world -- who opened a credit card or applied for a loan in your name, seeing the suspicious activity early on is the name of the game. The scary fact is that these breaches can cost you a lot of money and identity theft monitoring can alert you to a problem before it becomes too big to handle.

Knowing how your personal information is being used is a big step to keeping yourself safe . There are identity theft protection companies that can help you monitor your personal information, get notified if your accounts and personal information are being misused by thieves and if you should get a credit freeze, and even get you reimbursement after the fact.

None of these protection services will monitor your actual banking activity . I have  long recommended a way to protect yourself from becoming a victim of most banking fraud , which is to examine all your accounts once a week. It’s a bit of a pain, but just in my family, we’ve found numerous fraudulent activities and charges over the years. By doing this practice regularly, we’ve saved thousands of dollars.  Consumer Reports recommends  you do all your own monitoring, too. 

That said, if you’re not the type of person who is willing or able to take the time to do the constant due diligence necessary to protect your identity, some of these protection services can help. 

Read the fine print . Finally, because each of these protection services offers vastly different terms and conditions, we’ve included an easy link to each company’s terms of service. Be sure to take the time to read all of their fine print before you sign up for another monthly or yearly fee.

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Kia owners can get anti-theft upgrades at Greater Cleveland Aquarium this weekend

• Updated: Apr. 17, 2024, 1:36 p.m. |
• Published: Apr. 15, 2024, 3:30 p.m.

A video from Kia show a technician doing an anti-theft software installation at an event. Kia will hold one of these events in Cleveland this weekend. Courtesy of Kia

• Sean McDonnell, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If you’re a KIA owner and your vehicle needs anti-theft upgrades, this weekend may be your most convenient opportunity to do so.

Kia announced that it is holding an event at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium where Kia owners can get a free anti-theft software upgrades. The automaker is partnering with several local dealerships to hold the event.

More business coverage from cleveland.com

• What’s a ‘halo effect’? Cavs, Cleveland businesses brace for serious economic impact on downtown from NBA playoff run
• Cleveland leads in office-to-residential conversions, report says
• Cuyahoga County median home price increases by nearly $4,000 heading into busy season
• Rite Aid closing 13 stores, including 3 in Ohio
• Could a combined men’s and women’s Final Four be the future for college basketball? Lots of tipping points remain

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‘I’m too good for this,’ Walmart shoppers say over more anti-theft measures and feeling like they’re ‘being watched’

• Ashley Palya , News Reporter
• Published : 19:40 ET, Apr 14 2024
• Updated : 19:51 ET, Apr 14 2024
• Published : Invalid Date,

WALMART shoppers have voiced frustration and discomfort by heightened anti-theft measures such as locking up products and pressure at self-checkout. 

As security measures tighten, Walmart customers say it feels like they’re under constant surveillance making them feel unwelcome.

This has sparked an online debate over the balance between loss prevention and consumer privacy.

Walmart customers have shared their experience with the new anti-theft measures on X , formerly known as Twitter. 

Many have complained that the locked-up products ruin their overall shopping experience and add extra time at the store.

Some even had to leave the store because no one came to help them retrieve a product from a locked case. 

read more on Walmart

'Robot revolution is beginning' fumes Walmart shopper after futuristic change

Walmart and Target customers mock stores' drastic anti-theft measure

Furious shoppers.

There have been a handful of complaints from Walmart customers over the anti-theft measures. 

A Walmart customer said they won’t even waste their time waiting for someone if there are locked products and that they’ll just leave. 

“This why I walk in Walmart and walk right out cause everything locked tf up and I ain't waiting cause of y'all a**es!!!,” the customer said on X.

Another customer wanted to simply buy laundry detergent and was shocked when it had to be escorted to the front of the store for purchase.

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They said, “Went to buy Landry soap at Walmart.

“Soap is locked up and once I got it unlocked, they had to walk the soap to the register...... 

“I have to get the heck out of here.”

Another customer was upset they couldn’t get their essentials due to them being locked up.

They said, “Yeah I already wasn’t a fan of Walmart but now they have EVERYTHING locked and it’s so inconvenient for everyone to have to wait for a worker to unlock something. 

“Lotion, body wash, and deodorant are all locked away and they have a 50-year-old worker running around rampant.”

A customer said it was a “time waster and a hassle” after they tried to get electric toothbrush refills because they were “All locked up. No one around to unlock them.”

'BEING WATCHED'

The anti-theft measures made this customer feel like they had no privacy while shopping.

“Boy, they got that beauty section locked up like a mf. I felt like I was being watched like a hawk at self-checkout…” they said.

Another customer has completely given up on Walmart stores that have locked-up products.

“Will never in my life stoop down to the poorness of Walmart. From now on when I need non groceries it’s Target. I’m too good for this." X user

“Bro they get the underwear locked up at Walmart….you really gotta get a helper to unlock it for you,” the customer said.

“Will never in my life stoop down to the poorness of Walmart. 

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“From now on when I need non groceries it’s Target. I’m too good for this."

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment on the matter.

Ron DeSantis takes on Target, and Walmart, over retail theft

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has not been shy about challenging businesses in his state that adopt policies he does not agree with. 

Usually that involves the right-wing governor calling out companies for adopting so-called woke, or progressive, practices.

The failed presidential candidate usually takes on companies for supporting diversity, inclusion and LGBTQ+ causes. He has also been outspoken about the Bud Light controversy and had a prolonged battle with Walt Disney, his state's largest single-site employer.

Related: McDonald's menu adds fan-favorite item first discontinued in 2015

In most cases, the governor is making a political point and pandering to his right-wing fanbase. His Disney war began when the company's former chief executive, Bob Chapek, spoke out against DeSantis's Don't Say Gay bill, which forbids nearly all discussion of sexual identity in Florida's schools. 

Chapek likely spoke out only because Disney employees forced him to, but DeSantis's retribution was swift. He moved to strip the company of its Reedy Creek Improvement District, an agency through which the company controlled the land Disney World sits on.

The governor said he was taking away the company's special privileges — without noting that Florida has thousands of similar special districts. 

DeSantis's latest business fight, however, does not appear to be ideological.         

DeSantis takes on Target and Walmart

In DeSantis's latest corporate beef, he's called out companies including Walmart, Target, Walgreens and CVS for locking up items.  

"Going into a drugstore to buy toothpaste shouldn’t be like Fort Knox. You shouldn’t need a clerk to unlock a case just to purchase basic items," he said on the social-media platform X over an image showing a tube of toothpaste behind bars.

The governor recently signed a bill that increased penalties for retail theft in his state. At a press event held inside a Walgreens, he said he hoped the new law would help companies, including Target and Walmart, cut down on theft.

He has on a number of occasions criticized retailers locking up items.

"One of the things that I’ve noticed is that if you go [into] a pharmacy and the toothpaste is behind lock and key ... it’s almost like Fort Knox, some of these places, just for normal items," DeSantis said, according to Florida Politics.

He said that locked shelves have become the norm in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. His speech then went fully back to politics.

"All these places, they’ve effectively enacted policies that legalize shoplifting. So people just go in, they take what they want, they leave," he added.

Target has a theft problem

Target and Walmart have both used locking some shelves as a way to deter theft. The solution isn't ideal since it requires more employees and slows the shopping process, which can push customers to buy more items online.

Retailers generally keep their theft-prevention methods quiet so as not to tip off criminals, but locked shelves are a blunt-force solution. Target CEO Brian Cornell talked about the broader theft issue during his company's second-quarter-earnings call.

"In addition to these more recent challenges, our team continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime," he said. 

"[Shrink] in the second quarter remained consistent with our expectations, but well above the sustainable level where we expect to operate over time. And unfortunately, safety incidents associated with that are moving in the wrong direction."

The issue is not just shrink, the industry term for theft, but also employee safety.

"During the first five months of this year, our stores saw a 120% increase in theft incidents involving violence or threats of violence," the executive said. "As a result, we're continuing to work tirelessly with retail industry groups and community partners to find solutions to promote safety for our store teams and our guests."