Hacker Cinema
Find My Phone
2016 · Film · documentary · 21 min
Directed by Anthony van der Meer
Ever reached into your pocket to find your phone had been snatched? Dutch film student and former iPhone owner Anthony van der Meer experienced that awful feeling first-hand while having lunch in Amsterdam. Unsatisfied with the response from the Amsterdam police, who register an average of 300 stolen phones per week, Meer decided to find out what kind of person steals a phone. He downloaded DIY security software on a decoy Android phone, intentionally got the phone stolen, and was able to spy on his thief for weeks. He recorded the ups and downs of his covert investigation and turned it into a 22-minute documentary called Find My Phone.
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2 comments on Hacker News
The author doesn't address this.
However, the author doesn't want viewers to try similar projects, and also did the project to inform people of the massive privacy issues concerning smartphones. From his FAQ:
"5. Why won't you teach us how to install the app like you did? Besides theft, I wanted to make a point and start a discussion about privacy on smartphones without actually making a film that even mentions the word privacy. This is why the project should not be reproduced. I think the film makes the point, doing it again would be for entertainment purposes which I didn't. I hope people who see the film will realize the risk of getting hacked on smartphones, by hackers and governments. On computers, most people use virus scans, install updates and some people even put tape on their webcams while almost nobody even considers how vulnerable a smartphone is, and what the implications of getting hacked mean. I think the film already created a lot of awareness and started discussions about it."
Also, quoting from his YouTube page:
"Anthony is a director, researcher and concept developer. In June 2015 he graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy with his film Find my Phone. Anthony uses technology to tell stories in his work and has special interest in software and hardware development, hacking and privacy. He is currently working on developing a new documentary series and several other projects."
The above suggests this was just an art project. That doesn't mean it is exempt from law (personally, I believe he broke the law, and if you're interested wether this is true or not in NL I can highly recommend a lawyer, Arnoud Engelfriet, who might address the question on his blog), but it does show his intentions.
Video Description:
>> "After my phone got stolen, I quickly realized just how much of my personal information and data the thief had instantly obtained. So, I let another phone get stolen. This time my phone was pre-programmed with spyware so I could keep tabs on the thief in order to get to know him. However, to what extent is it possible to truly get to know someone by going through the content of their phone?
In the Netherlands, 300 police reports a week are filed for smartphone-theft. Besides losing your expensive device, a stranger has access to all of your photos, videos, e-mails, messages and contacts.
Yet, what kind of person steals a phone? And where do stolen phones eventually end up?
The short documentary ‘Find My Phone’ follows a stolen phone’s second life by means of using spyware.
Although you’ll meet the person behind the theft up close and personal, the question remains: how well can you actually get to know someone when you base yourself on the information retrieved from their phone?"