StolenCameraFinder is a clever web app that can help locate your stolen camera by using a photo you’ve already taken with it. All you have to do is drag some photos on to the main page and it will do its thing in a matter of seconds.How does it work? Many cameras save serial number information in the EXIF data of every photo you take. StolenCameraFinder extracts this data and looks for that same serial number data elsewhere on the internet. If it finds it, you can find photos taken with that camera and potentially locate the thief.
Not all cameras store this information, so StolenCameraFinder won’t work for everybody, but fortunately it was able to find serial number data from a Panasonic GF-1 I lost (or had stolen — I’m not sure) last year. Using that data I was able to file a missing camera report so it’ll be on the lookout. It’ll be interesting to see if something turns up.
StolenCameraFinder [via The Consumerist]
Republished from Lifehacker