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Student Lets Thief Steal His Phone, Spies On Him For Weeks To Make This Documentary
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Student Lets Thief Steal His Phone, Spies On Him For Weeks To Make This Documentary

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Film student Anthony van der Meer had his iPhone stolen and the thought that a stranger had access to all of his personal data really concerned him. What kind of person would steal a phone? Where do these phones end up? These were his biggest questions. To get answers, Anthony had another phone stolen from him on purpose, but this time he followed the thief using a hidden app and made a captivating documentary film about the whole process.

“Find my Phone” was possible because of a spyware app called Cerberus. Using it, van der Meer was able to remotely track and control his phone whenever it was turned on and connected to the internet. Anthony listened to the thief’s calls, read his messages, took photos, and even recorded both audio and video. The filmmaker then compressed everything into a thrilling 21 minute documentary movie which highlights how easy it is to spy on someone in the digital age. The video has already been viewed by more than 1.7 million people.

Latest update shows that his phone resurfaced in Romania.

More info: anthonyvdmeer.nl (h/t: petapixel)

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Rokas Laurinaviฤius

Rokas Laurinaviฤius

Author, BoredPanda staff

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Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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Rokas Laurinaviฤius

Rokas Laurinaviฤius

Author, BoredPanda staff

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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Jade
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is very cool. Makes me a bit weirded out as I have a secondhand iPhone! It's interesting that van der Meer felt sorry for the theif, but in real life he seemed aggressive and hostile. Interesting thoughts about how we act when nobody is watching and how we act in the 'real world'.

Katinka Min
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe not the most edge-of-seat-gripping short I've ever watched, but very interesting and a bit creepy (in a good way). And I am very glad I never bought a used phone O.o

FlowerChild
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is incredible! Makes me think twice about flashing my phone when I am out and about.

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Jade
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is very cool. Makes me a bit weirded out as I have a secondhand iPhone! It's interesting that van der Meer felt sorry for the theif, but in real life he seemed aggressive and hostile. Interesting thoughts about how we act when nobody is watching and how we act in the 'real world'.

Katinka Min
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe not the most edge-of-seat-gripping short I've ever watched, but very interesting and a bit creepy (in a good way). And I am very glad I never bought a used phone O.o

FlowerChild
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is incredible! Makes me think twice about flashing my phone when I am out and about.

Load More Comments
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