AfterDawn: News

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.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Jul 2010 1:30

• Previous article

• Verizon shows strong quarterly earnings

• Next article

• Disney to purchase Playdom for $500 million?

• 16 comments

• GryphB

  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.

  25.7.2010 01:38 #1

• 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?
  

  25.7.2010 02:49 #2

• llongtheD

  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?
  

  If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water.

  25.7.2010 03:20 #3

• ROMaster2

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

  25.7.2010 03:40 #4

• kikzm33z

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

  25.7.2010 08:26 #5

• Zoner

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

  Just shoot me!

  25.7.2010 08:51 #6

• hooter007

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

  ALL INFO FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY
  
  HOOTER007

  25.7.2010 09:18 #7

• elbald90

  sounds a bit suspect to me

  25.7.2010 11:19 #8

• DVDBack23

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

  AfterDawn News
  AfterDawn Guides
  AfterDawn Downloads
  AfterDawn Hardware Section
  
  

  25.7.2010 11:34 #9

• 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.

  25.7.2010 12:18 #10

• Hyasuma

  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
  

  25.7.2010 15:30 #11

• KillerBug

  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.

  25.7.2010 23:50 #12

• 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
  

  26.7.2010 08:31 #13

• xnonsuchx

  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.

  26.7.2010 22:19 #14

• glazenuts

  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.
  

  I started with nothing, I still have little left.
  <unknown>

  2.8.2010 12:16 #15

• llongtheD

  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.
  

  If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water.

  2.9.2010 00:59 #16