Wednesday, August 24, 2011

GadgetTrak: Photographer Recovers $9K In Gear Using Service

Portland-based GadgetTrak, the operator of software used to track stolen laptops, tablets, and smartphones, reports today that its services have been used by a professional photographer to relocate $9,000 in gear stolen from him. GadgetTrak--which launched a service in June which pulls the serial number of photos posted on the web, and makes it easy for people to find photos taken by a camera on Flickr and other sites--said that photographer John Heller was able to use the service to find a Facebook profile of the stolen camera's new owner. Heller, along with police, was able to track down the owner of the equipment, who had unwittingly purchased the equipment from a thief. GadgetTrak said this is the first time stolen property has been recovered by tracking the serial number embedded in images. GadgetTrak is headed by Ken Westin.