Reader Ken Stewart lost his iPhone over chips and salsa. But with the Find My iPhone app on his iPad, he found it, and served a bit of justice to Fontana, California.
You’ve heard the story about the lost iPhone before—twice perhaps . But not everyone has the San Francisco Police Department at their service . If disaster strikes, knocking your iPhone from its barstool, it may be you who dons the detective cap. Equipped with the right balance of finger foods, ambition, and tech, reader Ken Stewart shares how he reclaimed his lost—his stolen—iPhone and brought a little justice to Fontana, California.
Like any spicy tale of intrigue, our tale begins with a dash of mild salsa. Ken stops at his favorite Mexican haunt, Taco Factory [1] and enjoys some snacks and—perhaps—a margarita. Somewhere along the line, his iPhone slips loose from Ken’s Dockers pocket. By the time he realizes the absence it’s too late: When he returns to the Taco Factory, his iPhone is nowhere to be found.
For most people, this could be the unhappy ending. Not only had Ken lost his smartphone, he had lost everything on his smartphone: his music and photos, his documents and contacts, and all of the personal information nested in his apps for this and that. Enter, the Security Nightmare.
Yet, Ken has help—his wife, Anne. When he tells her of his i-loss, she reminds him of a clever feature they’ve used before. As MobileMe subscribers, Ken and Anne have had access to Find My iPhone [2] since its release last summer. In fact, Ken’s used the service to find his misplaced phone around his home. (Apparently this isn’t the first time those Dockers have gotten Ken into trouble).
Here’s what you need to know about Find My iPhone: As long as you’re running current software (iOS 4.2 or later), you can activate the feature in a few simple steps [3] . You used to need a MobileMe subscription, but now that Apple’s shifting to iCloud, Find My iPhone is free—all you need is an Apple ID.
Find My iPhone does more than just its name suggests. It works for the iPod Touch [4] and iPad [5] , and once you’ve enabled it, you can track your device from your desktop browser [6] , or from another iOS device using the app.
Most importantly, Find My iPhone lets you take active steps to protect your data. From the comfort of a browser or app, you can send a message to the lost device, lock it down with a passcode, or, in a worst-case scenario, wipe it to keep your information from lingering eyes. It’s a powerful set of tools that every iOS user ought to enable. Thankfully, Ken and Anne are two steps ahead.
Within moments, Ken finds his nomadic iPhone, a blue dot on a Google Map, four miles east of the Taco Factory. He gets in his car, iPad in tow, and follows the beacon to a house at the end of a cul-de-sac. When he knocks on the door he speaks to a woman—a mother judging by the surrounding child-induced chaos—and explains the situation. He shows her the iPad and asks her if she or anyone else in the house might have found his iPhone.
The woman is defensive. She says it can’t be here because she and her children have been at home all day. While she shrugs off the possibility, Ken watches the blue dot dance around the backyard. Anne calls. From her computer, she’s also watching the iPhone drift.
With options exhausted, Ken calls the police. While he’s waiting, he sends a message to the iPhone: “Hey, I know you’ve got my phone. Here’s my address. Just bring it back, no questions asked.”When the officer arrives, Ken explains the situation and shows him the app. The officer loves it: He’s never seen anything like it before. The mother, however, isn’t persuaded. The officer tells her that if the iPhone miraculously appears at his station before midnight, the case is closed. Otherwise, “You’ll see me again,” he says.
Before they leave, Ken glimpses a teenager loitering behind the woman. He vaguely remembers the boy from the Taco Factory. The boy flashes a smirk and continues walking. Moments later, the blue dot vanishes from the map.
At home, Ken and Anne wait. Around 10:00, the doorbell rings. It’s the officer. He smiles at Ken and hands him the iPhone. It’s in perfect condition, except the SIM card is missing. (The boy presumably removed it when he realized the phone was being tracked).
The officer says the woman came to the station with the iPhone, said she didn’t know how it came to be in her home, that it miraculously appeared. “Miracles do happen,” the officer said. Ken agreed.
But none of those miracles could have happened without a bit of technical dexterity. Though, judging from all the nomadic iPhones on the west coast, I for one think there must be something miraculous about California bars.
Do You Have a Tale to Tell?
Got your own security nightmare (the tech variety, of course)? Tell us all about it. We’ll be picking some of your stories to run online. Send your security nightmares to pcmonline@ziffdavis.com (use “My Security Nightmare” as your Subject line). Please include the best way to contact you. And if you'd like to remain anonymous, please let us know that, too.
Links
- ^ Taco Factory (www.tacofactoryinc.com)
- ^ Find My iPhone (www.apple.com)
- ^ a few simple steps (www.apple.com)
- ^ iPod Touch (www.apple.com)
- ^ iPad (www.apple.com)
- ^ desktop browser (www.me.com)
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