[Adeona] Track your stolen laptop free!

[cheeseburger]

I found this opensource/freeware http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/ Simply download it and install it on your computer and you can have your laptop tracked. I'm personally paranoid to do it, curious to know if anyone else is using this software and what your experience has been like.

* Private: Adeona uses state-of-the-art cryptographic mechanisms to ensure that the owner is the only party that can use the system to reveal the locations visited by a device.
* Reliable: Adeona uses a community-based remote storage facility, ensuring retrievability of recent location updates.
* Open source and free: Adeona's software is licensed under GPLv2. While your locations are secret, the tracking system's design is not.

The Mac OS X version also has an option to capture pictures of the laptop user or thief using the built-in iSight camera and the freeware tool isightcapture. Like your location information, these images are privacy-protected so that only the laptop owner (or an agent of the owner's choosing) can access them. Here are some examples:

[Eve]

It does sound like a good anti-theft measure, however I don't like the idea of installing tracking software on my computer. Entrusting any company with personal information is an action I would consider with some care. For example, I don't like the longevity of Google and Windows Live tracking cookies, or the fact that users are not notified of such cookies unless filtering applications are installed.

[Elektrisk]

This actually looks really awesome. I have been thinking of measures to take in case my laptop gets stolen. I have written down the serial number, product number, barcode numbers of my battery, taken pictures of the physical laptop, its keyboard, and other distinctive features. Having software to track its location, though, would help in the case that it gets stolen.

EDIT: From what I am reading, the program is not that stable. From Wikipedia:

# Adeona by University of Washington; open-source.[3] - Due to problems with the server that stores user data, Adeona stopped functioning in the fall of 2008. Developers are working on a new version. As of May 1, 2009, this was still in development.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laptop_thef...g_software

[Harvey]

Hey, Cheeseburger.

From what I can see, perhaps Adeona has a lot of work to do. Potentially, software of this kind could be absolutely fabulous. Remote shutting down and GPS tracking both come to mind. Good share, thank-you.

Thanks,
Malware Boss

[Eagle]

I dont know what to say about this.I haven't heard anything of this so i will test it.

[Rozzy]

This would be great...
But yeah I agree, I don't really wanna install something with nobody posting their experience. Also, they might find out where you live and come steal it from you! ;)

[Eagle]

This would be great...
But yeah I agree, I don't really wanna install something with nobody posting their experience. Also, they might find out where you live and come steal it from you! ;)

yeah. I don't know what i come with that download.I won't test this till someone else do it.