AfterDawn: Tech news

Thief steals iPhone being used in GPS test, gets caught in 9 minutes

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Jul 2010 1:30 User comments (16)

Thief steals iPhone being used in GPS test, gets caught in 9 minutes Horatio Toure, of San Francisco, stole an iPhone today off a woman walking down the street and was promptly arrested 9 minutes later.
Why so fast? Toure stole an iPhone that was being used to test software that tracks GPS location in real-time, allowing the company and the authorities to track Toure's exact location everywhere he went.

The woman he stole the iPhone off of was Jordan Sturm, an assistant at Covia Labs, the company designing the software. Sturm was testing "Alert & Respond," the app that allowed for real-time GPS tracking.

David Kahn, the CEO of the company, was following Sturm on a laptop, showing off the "Alert and Respond" software to his PR team. Because Toure was riding a bike when he stole the device, it appeared, in real-time, that Sturm had suddenly grown wings or wheels, leading to suspicions by Kahn.

The suspicions were confirmed when Sturm ran back to the office and informed her boss.



Besides tracking location in real-time, the software can also remotely turn on the phone's camera and take a pic, or turn on the mic and record what is being said.

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16 user comments

125.7.2010 01:38

I swear, thieves these days are getting dumber and dumber. Reminds me of the idiots who broke into someones house and then got on that persons computer to update his FB account that he was robbing a persons house. Led to a quick arrest. Oh well, let these want to be famous idiots get hauled off.

225.7.2010 02:49

how i feel somehow my privacy is ruined....camera that can just turn on? and how did they know right away that the phone was stolen?

325.7.2010 03:20
llongtheD
Inactive

Thats just what we need huh? Devices tracking us in real time, taking our pictures, and recording our conversations. But I'm sure government agencies tied in with large corporations would never need this kind of information. I feel safer already.
Are there really a large enough group of people in this country that feel that fearful for their security, that that they would give up their privacy?
In the end I think this is just a cooked up story to get some ad time for this software company.
So let me understand this, she ran back to report this to her boss, they phoned the "authorities," the police were dispatched, and caught a man on a bike in 9 minutes? Obviously I don't know the whole story, but this sounds like a crock of sh#t. Guess the police must have skipped that whole pesky getting information, and making a report phase, or was it a citizens arrest?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 25 Jul 2010 @ 3:41

425.7.2010 03:40

1. Take out battery
2. ???
3. PROFIT

525.7.2010 08:26

Originally posted by ROMaster2:
1. Take out battery
2. ???
3. PROFIT
Thieves = Dumbass.

625.7.2010 08:51

Quote:
1. Take out battery
2. ???
3. PROFIT
Iphones have removable batteries?

725.7.2010 09:18

even if you can get the battery out easy
the last thing on a thief`s mind is to "take the battery out"

825.7.2010 11:19

sounds a bit suspect to me

925.7.2010 11:34

Originally posted by Zoner:
Quote:
1. Take out battery
2. ???
3. PROFIT
Iphones have removable batteries?
They sure don't.

1025.7.2010 12:18

Originally posted by Hyasuma:
how i feel somehow my privacy is ruined....camera that can just turn on? and how did they know right away that the phone was stolen?
Read the WHOLE article then post.

1125.7.2010 15:30

Originally posted by cleverick:
Originally posted by Hyasuma:
how i feel somehow my privacy is ruined....camera that can just turn on? and how did they know right away that the phone was stolen?
Read the WHOLE article then post.
okay, let me correct what i'm saying. I feel somehow my privacy is ruined because WHO THE HELL knows that Apple didnt just put that shit in ur phone if u got one? They dont tell you these things. And i Should just delete the part that they know right away that the phone was stolen, because ur right, i didnt read the whole article. Thanks

1225.7.2010 23:50

I'm paranoid enough running an open source OS on my phone. I really, really, really would not trust Apple to completely turn this feature off when I turned it off. The only good news is that they can't run this software all the time because the battery wouldn't last very long.

1326.7.2010 08:31

Newbie

1. Take out battery
2. ???
3. PROFIT

the underware Knomes..... oh wait that's south park. you know now a days it's not a bright idea to pick up someones phone it could be an i.e.d. let alone a way for some government to take a picture ,record a conversation , or just track you .. hey theirs an idea why dosn't washington give out a free phone at all the inbound flights and then the can track them... everyone likes free... call it a promotional and give them 3 months free calls and web axcess and texting.... lol

1426.7.2010 22:19

Originally posted by Hyasuma:
I feel somehow my privacy is ruined because WHO THE HELL knows that Apple didnt just put that shit in ur phone if u got one? They dont tell you these things.
They are usually features that the user has to purposely enable (Opt In)...like 'Location' settings on older phones that, by default, only send location data if a 911 call is made, but can be changes to send it w/ all calls.

152.8.2010 12:16

Originally posted by Hyasuma:
how i feel somehow my privacy is ruined....camera that can just turn on? and how did they know right away that the phone was stolen?
learn to read english.
put down the apple kool-aid. Get an android, problem solved.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 02 Aug 2010 @ 12:20

162.9.2010 00:59
llongtheD
Inactive

Originally posted by mystic:
Newbie

1. Take out battery
2. ???
3. PROFIT

the underware Knomes..... oh wait that's south park. you know now a days it's not a bright idea to pick up someones phone it could be an i.e.d. let alone a way for some government to take a picture ,record a conversation , or just track you .. hey theirs an idea why dosn't washington give out a free phone at all the inbound flights and then the can track them... everyone likes free... call it a promotional and give them 3 months free calls and web axcess and texting.... lol
LOL! Come on mystic, there is no way a self respecting terrorist would take a free phone from a government agent.

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