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What Is the Best Way To Track Stolen Gadgets?

Posted by timothy on from the glue-to-foot dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Now that gadgets can determine their location and phone home, many companies are creating tools for finding lost and stolen gadgets. It sounds like a simple process, but this NY Times article describes a number of wildly different approaches. Some report all of the information back to the owner while others deliberately keep the owner in the dark to avoid dangerous confrontations. Some start grabbing pictures from the web cameras and logging keystrokes. Others just record IP addresses. Some don't do anything but record serial numbers to make it easier for the police to do their job. Are sophisticated systems dangerous because the tracking mechanisms could be misused to violate the privacy of the owner? Are the stakes different when a company purchases the software and gives the IT manager the ability to track everyone in the company? What are the best practices that are emerging? What should I recommend if my boss reads this article and wants to track our laptops and Blackberries?"

5 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. Don't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you love something, let it go.

    If it doesn't come back, it never was yours.

    1. Re:Don't by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Funny

      If it does come back, check for signs of demonic possession, including but not limited to:

      * Bloodthirst
      * Creeping veins of ichor
      * Word-like sounds, as though chattered in a dead tongue older than space and time
      * Moving under its own bloody power

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  2. Re:Some gadget by FlyByPC · · Score: 3, Funny

    They track your phone
    Throughout the day?
    Put it in a
    Faraday cage!
    Burma Shave

    --
    Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
  3. Lucky "CSI: Italy" . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 3, Funny

    . . . they got more than just the suspect's fingerprints . . they got the whole fingers!

    (Scene: A guy with a bandaged hand sitting in the police interrogation room. A detective walks in and tosses a package on the table.)

    "Hey, Luigi, are these your fingers?"

    "Never seen them before in my life, pal!"

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  4. Re:Don't bother by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

    My laptop has a Sony battery. It will catch fire shortly after being stolen. Or before. Whatever.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News