I created a (hidden) lost+found page on my blog and am now printing little stickers with the QR code that points to that page. Gonna put them on all my devices and gizmos and when I lose/forget them someplace, I trust the finder will Do The Right Thing and contact me. (picture does NOT have the real QR Code)
@jwildeboer Pretty good idea, actually!
@sustainrelease @jwildeboer nice idea, yes.
I have a "Found? Please contact: <mail address>" on my phone's lock screen, hoping for honest finders.
Related, but different: I have a "canary QR code" that leads to a page that notifies me immediately if opened. It put that into various files to get an alarm when someone/something scanned/leaked/OCR’d my files. Not sure how useful.
@jwildeboer As someone who will not scan QR codes found in the wild, if you want me to contact you, please just put your contact info right on the sticker. Preferably prefixed with "property of" so I know Jan Wildeboer isn't the just the name of some store.
Or at the very least include some information that instructs the finder to scan the code so it's clear that that is considered part of DTRT. I might still not scan it, but then I will at least feel bad about not doing so.
@jwildeboer I like the "It could also be I don't need it anymore" part. ;)
@jwildeboer Interesting idea about handling lost and found stickers. I might do something similar in the future.
So far I have gone with putting my last name, plus a Base64 string that contains my encrypted contact data in it, onto devices I might loose. My thinking is that if I go to claim them at a lost and found desk, I can prove that I own the device by decrypting the content to show my address.
@jwildeboer
Another thing you can do, e.g., for Garmin GPS devices, is make devices show your contact when they are booting. However not all devices will support this, and the information is only visible for a short period of time.