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Student Lets Thief Steal His Phone, Spies On Him For Weeks To Make This Documentary
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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What do you think ?
Jade 9 years ago
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 9 years ago
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 9 years ago
This is incredible! Makes me think twice about flashing my phone when I am out and about.
Cesi Baca 9 years ago
If only there was something like the app he used for for iPhones as well. Find my iPhone is basically useless.
Doug Stringham 9 years ago
The difference is that a stolen iPhone is completely useless to the thief. You can't hack or install anything on it. It's a dead brick.
Load More Replies...
Little blue kitten 9 years ago
you know what's frightening about this? that it is possible to track a phone remotely. Who know, maybe somebody's spying on us right now, without us knowing it...
LeFlyingSaucer 9 years ago
Basically every government in the world plus big data companies.
Load More Replies...
Katie Louise 9 years ago
Fascinating! It's really interesting the compassion van der Meer began to develop for the thief. Worth the watch. I hope he got all As for his film classes.
Ibn Danish Rabbani Basri 9 years ago
Cool short film, teaching us how easy to spy on a person (and how to let someone to steal our phone perhaps :D). That's life on the 21'st century
It's Caturday 9 years ago
They almost legislated a remote auto-destroy function for iPhone in the US! Failed due to something regarding lack of choice on the consumer's behalf (read: can't resell easily). It looks like it should pass this year. Fingers crossed.
Load More Replies...
Nomadus Aureus 9 years ago
It's a shame though that its track to Roumania has not been shown. Not that I'm too happy about Eastern Europe having such reputation... But by the time these goods get to you via ebay, amazon, legitimate dealers, you really might thing it was a completely clean purchase. Incidentally, this is one of the reasons for which I'm not too keen on buying genuinely valuable products from such sites. Anyway. It would be fascinating if a documentary could be made about stolen goods travelling between countries. It might even reveal something about the consumers of the country of destination. What do we "export"? What do we "import"? I wonder if it could be done? -and not just with electronic devices.
Jade 9 years ago
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 9 years ago
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 9 years ago
This is incredible! Makes me think twice about flashing my phone when I am out and about.
Cesi Baca 9 years ago
If only there was something like the app he used for for iPhones as well. Find my iPhone is basically useless.
Doug Stringham 9 years ago
The difference is that a stolen iPhone is completely useless to the thief. You can't hack or install anything on it. It's a dead brick.
Load More Replies... Little blue kitten 9 years ago
you know what's frightening about this? that it is possible to track a phone remotely. Who know, maybe somebody's spying on us right now, without us knowing it...
LeFlyingSaucer 9 years ago
Basically every government in the world plus big data companies.
Load More Replies... Katie Louise 9 years ago
Fascinating! It's really interesting the compassion van der Meer began to develop for the thief. Worth the watch. I hope he got all As for his film classes.
Ibn Danish Rabbani Basri 9 years ago
Cool short film, teaching us how easy to spy on a person (and how to let someone to steal our phone perhaps :D). That's life on the 21'st century
It's Caturday 9 years ago
They almost legislated a remote auto-destroy function for iPhone in the US! Failed due to something regarding lack of choice on the consumer's behalf (read: can't resell easily). It looks like it should pass this year. Fingers crossed.
Load More Replies... Nomadus Aureus 9 years ago
It's a shame though that its track to Roumania has not been shown. Not that I'm too happy about Eastern Europe having such reputation... But by the time these goods get to you via ebay, amazon, legitimate dealers, you really might thing it was a completely clean purchase. Incidentally, this is one of the reasons for which I'm not too keen on buying genuinely valuable products from such sites. Anyway. It would be fascinating if a documentary could be made about stolen goods travelling between countries. It might even reveal something about the consumers of the country of destination. What do we "export"? What do we "import"? I wonder if it could be done? -and not just with electronic devices.
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