Hidden camera app snaps stolen laptop suspect

Owner able to gather information including pictures, Facebook account and work details leading to suspect’s eventual arrest An alleged laptop thief has been arrested after his victim used a secret application on the computer to track its whereabouts and take photographs of the perpetrator. Joshua Kaufman’s MacBook was stolen from his apartment in Oakland, California, on 21 March, but when he reported the crime to the police it was deemed a low priority – so he turned to Twitter and Tumblr to get it back. “I reported the crime to the police and even told them where it was, but they couldn’t help me due to lack of resources,” Kaufman said. Rather than give up the laptop as lost the designer had a trick up his sleeve. Kaufman had downloaded an application to his computer that tracked the machine’s location and took pictures from its inbuilt camera – unbeknown to the thief. “I’m using the awesome app, Hidden, to capture these photos of this guy who has my MacBook,” Kaufman wrote. He told the New York Daily News he had returned to his apartment on a Monday night in March to find the laptop, a Kindle and some jewellery missing. Kaufman called the police, but the case was filed as low priority. However, using Hidden he was soon garnering information about the laptop’s new owner, including pictures, his Facebook account, his place of work and business email address. Upon returning to the police, Kaufman was told they did not have the manpower to pursue the alleged thief. It was then that he decided to spread news of the theft himself, starting a Tumblr account called This Guy Has My MacBook . Kaufman promptly began uploading some of the pictures and other information that Hidden had relayed back. Readers – tens of thousands have shared the blog on Twitter and Facebook – were able to see pictures of the suspect asleep on a settee in front of the computer, lying in bed topless in front of the computer and, less conventionally, driving in front of the computer. NY Daily News reported that Oakland police finally decided to investigate when media outlets began contacting officers for comment after the saga had become an internet sensation. A mission to rescue the laptop – and perhaps to save some face – was scrambled on Tuesday night and the man in the photographs was soon detained, much to the computer owner’s delight. “ARRESTED! An Oakland police officer just called me to let me know that they arrested the guy in my photos! BOOYA!” Kaufman tweeted . “The police used my evidence (email which pointed to a cab service) that he was a driver and tricked him into picking them up. Nice work OPD!” he added . Hiddenapp.com pledges that the app will “locate your stolen computer anywhere on the planet, collect photos of the thief and screen shots of the computer in use”. It is not the first example of similar software being used to track stolen laptops. However, on Wednesday some Twitter users were sceptical as to whether there may be something more to the affair. “It seems like a pr-stunt for the app Hidden,” @Chalottn posted , while @Usman C wrote : “What i don’t understand is y this thief would sleep and drive w the screen open (pics w cam). Looks like PR-stunt to me.” Hidden, which is based in Watford, Hertfordshire, has denied it is a marketing ploy, telling one sceptic : “It’s a complete surprise to us too, no dodgy marketing here.” Last month Sean Power , an author and consultant based in New York, used Prey software to track down his MacBook , tracing it to a bar in the city while he was in his native Canada. Power posted maps of the laptop’s location and pictures of the rogue user to Twitter, inadvertently scrambling a team of followers to the bar and eventually managing to retrieve the computer. In January Erick Lounsbury used Orbicule to track his laptop to Southern California after it was stolen from his home in Bremerton, Washington state. “People need to know that you’ve gotta take care of your own stuff, because no one else is going to,” Lounsbury told the Kitsap Sun after being reunited with his machine. “You’ve gotta do your part.” Computing Apple Facebook Software Internet Twitter United States Blogging Social networking Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 1, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.