With great convenience comes great risk, and in this day and age of ubiquitous mobile devices and shrinking laptops, a new market of theft is targeting your technology. As anyone who has ever had anything stolen from them knows, there’s no more helpless feeling than that moment of realization, leaving you grasping at air. However, the Prey app from preyproject.com is now here to remedy this sort of theft, emitting a signal when activated to locate your stolen devices.
As this article from the NY Times emphasizes, the growing popularity of pocket sized technology makes theft tempting. Commonly, many different surveys over the past decade claim 10% of laptops will be stolen, while other studies claim that roughly 200 cell phones are stolen every hour worldwide. Thieves are now left to expect that every pedestrian has something of resale value on their persons. Perhaps now when purchasing a new device, setting up a protective service in the event of theft should be as necessary as linking your e-mail and Facebook together.
The Prey app stores itself using limited space and hibernates until activated. In the event of theft, the user can signal it and it will either use the local GPS in the system, or local WiFi signals to emit a tracking signal. Then, based upon the user’s preferences, the Prey app can operate in a series of different ways: it can take a picture of the thief (if the hardware permits), lock your operating system, sound a loud alarm, take screenshots to track movements and monitor password protected sites, and other tasks, as well.
The Prey app offers a few different service plans, ranging from a limited free version to a more attentive cost version, which includes a network to monitor the status of your device, leaving means of recovery entirely up to you. If you want to call the cops, no problem, but if it’s your good-for-nothing brother in law, then maybe you’ll just visit him in the middle of the night.