Wikipedia photo |
“Slugging” is
an organic ride-share around the D.C. suburbs to commute back and forth to the
Pentagon and the neighboring office buildings via high-occupancy vehicle lanes
without a toll.
As we
arrive, she pulls up to the barrier, instead of pulling up to the normal “slug”
drop off area, an indicator that she is going to D.C. not inside the Pentagon. As
I hurry to get out, the chord gets wrapped around the seatbelt and my podcast
stops. I move over to the barrier and put my stuff down to get organized, I
grab the chord and the iPhone is gone. In a panic I check my pockets. I turn
around to see how far the SUV has gone, can I stop it, but it’s gone.
I call my iPhone
several times from my work phone hoping the driver would hear it and answer. I
google “lost iPhone” and check the process to locate my phone. I sign into iCloud,
access the “lost phone app” and, to my dismay, it says, you must have GPS
enabled. For privacy I normally leave it
off.
After
finding the link to the “lost phone mode,” I follow prompts to leave a message
on my iPhone and to lock the iPhone screen with a password. I leave an
alternate phone number for the finder to call us.
Through my
cell phone carrier I attempt to suspend my account via a “lost phone” automated
telephone system. However I fail because I do not have a telephone passcode for
my carrier. I next log onto my account
on the carrier’s website and suspend my iPhone account to protect my iPhone data.
Initially I panicked
because I do not have a recommended password to prevent unauthorized access to
my iPhone. I am particularly upset that I had lost irreplaceable pictures and
videos of my mom who had passed away this year and of our grandchildren. I am concerned
about potential access to banking.
I decide to
unsuspend the iPhone later in the day. As part of the “lost phone mode,” you can
press a button that activates a sound on your device so that it can be heard.
The sound is very annoying and loud. I
check several times during the day to see if the phone was located by the “lost
mode” and I also press the detection sound but no luck.
As the day wears
on, I contemplate how I would replace it. It is very hard to concentrate,
knowing that so much of my life data is out there for anybody to grab. By nightfall,
as I check my email, I am notified by Apple that my phone had been found and it
is on the move from D.C. to Alexandria, to Annandale.
If the
person was a “slugger,” it would not make sense that she lived in Annandale and
picked others in Dumfries, ten miles south. I go to sleep discouraged but hopeful.
I wake up
the next morning early, after a night of fitful sleep. I imagine finding my
bank account wiped out. I check my laptop and the newest message from Apple says
that the phone had been in Dumfries most of the night.
I check the
Google satellite image map and find the address located in a cul-de-sac of
townhouses. I decide to go to the address, try to locate the vehicle, and to find
the person who had my phone.
The Google
map townhouse number given by the GPS locator does not exist on that street so
I get out and look inside a white SUV for a baby seat - nothing. I go up and
down the cul-de-sac.
The Google
map insists that this is where my phone is. I see kids’ toys scattered in a
yard and I presume that it must be it. I ring the doorbell; a bearded man comes
out, I tell him my story, and apologize for waking him and his dog up. He assures
me that his wife does not ride-share.
I next walk
around parked cars in the cul-de-sac, pressing the button on the “lost mode
app,” hoping that I would hear the annoying radar ping sound inside the parked
cars. No success.
I arrive in
my office after “slugging” again in a convertible Mercedes. I log into iCloud
and see my phone traveling on I-395 speeding towards the Pentagon. I quickly
grab my work-cell and head for the slug line drop, continuously tracking my
pinging phone. It is getting closer and I watch cars as they come and go.
A white SUV
approaches, I recognize the Jamaican flag which floods back into memory, and I
approach the driver; she rolls down the window and says, “Are you looking for
this?” handing me my iPhone. I am overjoyed.
The moral of
my misadventure:
-
With
or without GPS turned on, they can still track you
-
Password-protect
your phone to guard your data
-
Buy
phone-loss insurance
-
Keep
your iPhone in a deep pocket or in a purse
-
Be
careful when you ride-share and never give up
-
Back
up precious photos with iCloud or a removable drive.
Your phone's whereabouts are known by triangulation using your signal strength measured at nearby cell towers. Not as accurate as GPS. It is pretty accurate in dense areas where there are lots of cell towers than in rural areas where they are further apart.
ReplyDeleteThat is good to know. Thank you, Paul.
DeleteYou are quite the detective! Impressive!
ReplyDeleteThat was my husband, Marijane Green, who is the detective. I am afraid I would have broken down and cried and called the police to find the woman.
DeleteUse the App, Life 360. Shows where your phone is, which is hopefully with you and also records where you have been in last week.
ReplyDeleteHelps families keep up with wherabouts of other family members without having to contact them.
That's an interesting suggestion, Chriss Rainey. Is that not a bit intrusive on others even though they are family? On the other hand, if someone gets lost for reasons of dementia or a child wonders off, assuming they had a phone, that would come in handy.
Delete