Reuters: "Lost cameras 'phone home' to catch thieves"

[David Rasnake]

A story on Reuters.com yesterday credits an Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card with helping to catch a pair of camera thieves.

The two crooks that took Alison DeLauzon's camera after she accidentally left it unattended in a restaurant were nabbed after the card automatically uploaded photos that they'd taken of themselves with the stolen camera to the owner's photo sharing site.

Based on our experience with the Eye-Fi, the odds of such an occurence seem pretty low. Apparently, the hapless thieves happened to turn the camera on in range of an unsecured wireless network, which happened to be configured like the owner's home network.

Though it's probably not a safe bet to trust that your Eye-Fi card will serve as an impromptu LoJack, thieves should still be advised: if you're not sure what or whom the camera you just stole might be communicating with, self portraits probably aren't a good idea.

Via PhotographyBlog.com

[CalebSchmerge]

That's pretty funny, lucky, but funny. I'm sure in the future they will have a small radio that could phone home anyway.

[David Rasnake]

I'm sure in the future they will have a small radio that could phone home anyway.

With wireless technology coming down in price and size, I think you're absolutely right. In a strange way, with open wireless networks in a growing number of places (and public Wi-Fi still a possibility, in spite of some setbacks) a system using Wi-Fi for security/location purposes may well be viable.

Great free advertising for Eye-Fi, too.

dr