How far can I go to return a laptop to its owner?

December 15, 2005 9:36 AM

Last week I was walking home from work and found a laptop in the street. How far can I go, ethically, to get this system back to its owner?

It's a fairly recent, desktop-replacement class machine and looks like what you'd expect to happen if you forgot your laptop on the roof of your car -- badly scraped up, the screen is broken, the CD-ROM drive has snapped off. It isn't completely destroyed, though. It powers up and acts like it's booting but the VGA port on the back doesn't have a signal so I can't tell what, if anything, is actually happening. According to the case sticker it's running XP Pro so it's probably locked up tight anyway.

I would expect anyone who lost a laptop to want very badly to get it back. And the class of the machine and the location where it was found (close to a college, county courthouse, and law library) increases the possibility that there's data on this thing that the owner would not want to lose. The minute I got home I posted a FOUND notice to Craigslist, but nobody responded.

So here's the dilemma: I've had to recover data from dying XP systems more than once and know it would be trivial for me to pop open (what's left of) the case on this system, pull the hard drive, and (if it's still working) search it for something that would identify the owner -- an Outlook file with their email address, for example. But does the possible good of returning this computer to its owner outweigh the clearcut bad of looking at someone's private data? If the system belonged to an attorney, for example, that Outlook file could be chock-full of confidential work product -- but they could be in some serious trouble for having lost the laptop in the first place, making them really need to get it back. Or maybe there's legally shady stuff on the hard drive that the system's owner might suspect me of having rooted through, leading to who knows what.

I suppose I could turn it in to the police, but the chances of them making any effort to return this thing to its owner are close to zero. Unless a) it's been reported stolen, b) the owner gave the police enough information to ID the system and c) someone at the police department cares enough to try and match a theft report against a smashed-up, non-booting laptop, it's going to end up in a recovered-property sale or in the dumpster.

What should I do at this point?

posted by Lazlo to human relations (30 comments total)

What brand is it? Could you call the manufacturer and give them the serial number and ask if they could give you contact info for the owner, or could contact the owner?
posted by SpecialK at 9:40 AM on December 15, 2005

If it were my laptop, I'd appreciate you finding my info and contacting me. But I'm no shady lady. :) You may want to contact the courthouse, law school, and college to see if anyone has been asking for the lost machine.
posted by gai at 9:41 AM on December 15, 2005

I keep a file on the desktop of my iBook with my contact information for this very reason.

Without question, I would go through with attempting to track down the owner via looking at the contents of the hard drive. You know what the reasonable privacy line is (no opening the "Nnaked Pictures of My Boyfriend" folder), so stick within that and go for it.
posted by waldo at 9:45 AM on December 15, 2005

If it's a major brand name laptop (Dell, Toshiba, etc) you could find the service tag on the case and call up their customer support. If the owner ever did any sort of registration or extended warranty type thing, there's a good chance that customer service will have some contact information on file.

If I were in your situation, I would pull the drive and find the owner's contact information myself. Your profile says you're some sort of professional nerd, and speaking as a professional (IT) nerd, there's a certain amount of pseudo-doctor-patient confidentiality which locks into place in these situations. True, they didn't bring the machine to you and say, "please do whatever you can to fix this," but if you return it and explain that you were able to find their address because you do this type of thing for a living I think they'd understand. Plus, you don't necessarily have to root through their email to find some contact information. The 'About' screen in Word should give you at least a name.
posted by mmcg at 9:46 AM on December 15, 2005

You are very nice. I would also be thankful for any digging you did to find my identity. This person probably expects to never see the computer again, which will be particularly devastating because the end of the semester is approaching. Term papers, theses, I'm sure they will not be offended whatever lengths you go to to find them. Rather, the more effort you put into it, the more grateful they'll likely be.
posted by leapingsheep at 9:50 AM on December 15, 2005

You don't need to actually give it to the police. Just give them a call and say you found a badly damaged laptop. Tell them the make and where you found it.

I found a digital camera in worse condition at the airport (a car had actually driven over it.) I called the airport police, gave them my number, and sure enough, the owner called a few days later asking for the memory card.

I'm guessing the person who lost it will be trying even harder than you to get the laptop back.
posted by justkevin at 9:50 AM on December 15, 2005

I would probably thank you, and then punch you, if you scanned my hard drive.
posted by cmonkey at 9:51 AM on December 15, 2005

scanned my hard drive

What does that even mean?

If someone found my wallet, I expect them to go through it to find some ID so that they can call me and tell me, because I know that otherwise I will never see it again regardless of their intentions. No difference here.
posted by mendel at 9:57 AM on December 15, 2005

You're right, mendel. There is no difference between the information the average person stores in a laptop versus a wallet.
posted by Eamon at 10:00 AM on December 15, 2005

If it's a faculty or work laptop, I'd assume it would have a property tag on it. If it doesn't, pop 'er open and see what you can do.
posted by kcm at 10:01 AM on December 15, 2005

Install the hard drive as a second drive in your machine. Boot from a live Linux CD. Look at the /documents and settings folder on the laptop drive for user names and search the white pages of your town (or local school) for someone with that last name.

If you find the owner and they give you a hard time about looking at the drive, they are an ass.
posted by bondcliff at 10:03 AM on December 15, 2005

Ah, but opening someone's wallet doesn't run the risk of catastrophic loss of driver's license, cedit card, etc.

Just as a hypothetical here, let's say that the HD was damaged in the incident, and that your spinning it up to search for the owner's identity will do some damage. Let's also assume that the owner of the laptop has some incredibly critical, irreplaceable, sensitive data on their laptop (back it up, I know), and if they were to have recovered their laptop themselves, they would immediately rush said HD off to a data recovery center for a gajillion dollar fee. because their data is that important.

Not knowing what might be on the laptop, I might try to exhaust my non-invasive options before messing with the platters that hold the only copy of some poor sap's novel. Or whatever.

Or is that too hypothetical of a hypothetical?

On preview, well, you DID say it was a week ago and no nibbles yet. I would try calling the manufacturer first, and if that doesn't work, then crack the thing and pull the HD.
posted by misterbrandt at 10:06 AM on December 15, 2005

I'd be glad of it. My private info is encrypted, but I leave contact info in the clear for just this reason.

Encryption is trivial in both XP and OS X. As such, any anger about scanning the hard drive should be answered by saying "well then you should've encrypted it" and kicking them in the nuts.
posted by I Love Tacos at 10:08 AM on December 15, 2005

BTW, with the digital camera I found, I was consumed with an intense curiosity to know what was on it. Vacation snaps? Amateur porn? Blackmail pics? Evidence of a heinous crime?

I'm interested if Lazlo, in addition to his commendable desire to return the laptop to its original owner, also has begun to see the laptop as a beckoning mystery.
posted by justkevin at 10:09 AM on December 15, 2005

I don't think anyone leaving an unencrypted hard drive lying in the middle of the public steet has any reasonable expectation of privacy.
posted by sfenders at 10:11 AM on December 15, 2005

I tape my business card taped to the bottom of my laptop for this reason.

Call the police, ask if a laptop was reported lost. Put up a sign near where you found it. Call the vendor, they may have purchase info.

Last resort: if you fire up the drive, you are likely to be able to find the owner's email address. and his porn.
posted by theora55 at 10:19 AM on December 15, 2005

If they've lost the laptop (or it was stolen) I imagine they assume already that someone has viewed their data, or destroyed it. You're doing a service for them. Open it up, find the owner, give them the laptop and a bill for your services.

And post the followup in this thread.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:20 AM on December 15, 2005

Hey, you definitely can't bill them for your efforts. I think that would qualify as extortion ("sure, here's your laptop back, but it comes with a condition: this invoice for $400"). The finder always has the option of simply handing over the item to the police and walking away.

You can of course accept gratefully given cash :)
posted by misterbrandt at 10:35 AM on December 15, 2005

i don't think lazlo mentioned anything about billing the owner, but that would be a pretty sleazy thing to do - stumble across a laptop by pure serendipity, track down the owner and then bill them? ugly.

i think that once something's been lost or stolen - a wallet, personal files, laptop, cell phone - any reasonable expectation of privacy the owner might have had is gone. from their point of view, it could just as well have been stolen by identity thieves and their passwords / credit card / whatever information could have been disseminated or used for nefarious purposes. they have lost 3 things - the physical property, the data on the drive, and their privacy / exclusive access to it (unless it has been encrypted or protected somehow, in which case your efforts will be moot).

that a nice person found it and just wants to return it should be considered a lucky break, in that at least they get their physical property and data back. i say go for it - unless you find kiddie snuff porn or something, i'd say most people would be happy that you took the effort to return it to them. and if they do give you a hard time (which would be a pretty shitty thing to do), at least you can console yourself with the thought that you did the right thing.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 12:09 PM on December 15, 2005

I suppose I could turn it in to the police, but the chances of them making any effort to return this thing to its owner are close to zero.

I see from your profile that you are from abroad. Here in the UK people routinely ask the Police if anything that they have lost has been handed in. The Police do not actually go out seeking owners of lost property; if the property is valuable, and if the finder is honest, and if the loser has any sense, property & owner are rematched. Magic.
posted by dash_slot- at 12:12 PM on December 15, 2005

I would be absolutely thrilled if I lost my laptop and someone took the trouble to figure out how to return it to me. Look for a resume or similar file that would have personal, but not too personal, information on it. Anyone who gives you a hard time about looking through it is an ungrateful cad, and I would assume (perhaps naively) that most people would be thankful to get it back, a la a lost wallet.
posted by emd3737 at 1:09 PM on December 15, 2005

I would put up some flyers before opening the case. If that doesn't get an answer, then I think the good intentions of looking for address trump the (slim) chance of seeing sensitive material. Especially if you really do limit yourself to searching for an Outlook profile.

One thing to consider in this scenario: if the laptop is owned by someone affiliated with a school, they may have already left for Christmas break. In other words, they may not even see your flyers until sometime in mid-January. Oh and I'm not terribly surprised that Craig's list got no responsese. It would never even occur to me to look on there for a lost computer. I suspect that only a very small percentage of computer users even use craig's list.
posted by oddman at 1:14 PM on December 15, 2005

I really think most people would just be glad to get the laptop back. But I think your best guide is the simplest: Think about what you would want someone to do if they found your laptop -- then do that.
posted by spilon at 1:22 PM on December 15, 2005

Do it, then show them this page as you tell them you didn’t try to snoop and the guy would be thankful for you going to such lengths to do the right thing. I’m pretty sure of that, I know I would.
posted by JeNeSaisQuoi at 2:11 PM on December 15, 2005

If I lost my laptop, I'd be *hoping* someone would find it and be benevolent with the data. Just like I'd hope someone would see my driver's license in my wallet. No difference. If they get upset, say you were otherwise going to trash it.
posted by acoutu at 2:32 PM on December 15, 2005

I'd see what you can find on their hard drive if I were you, though I've turned things in to the police which have later been recovered by the owner. The police said they get a lot of people calling to see if things have been turned in but very few people actually turning them in. Oh, and I'm in the US.
posted by cali at 6:04 PM on December 15, 2005

I too would thank you. Then I would immediately change any passwords for online bank accounts, amazon, etc that could have resided anywhere on the hard drive.

(In fact, I would change those passwords right after losing the laptop.)
posted by mono blanco at 6:50 PM on December 15, 2005

Why don't you contact the librarians, law school lost and found etc before you open it
posted by fshgrl at 8:29 PM on December 15, 2005

Thanks to everyone for their ideas! It hadn't occurred to me to contact the manufacturer, but it's a name-brand box and someone there may be willing to try and pass along a message. I'll give that a shot before I start dismantling anything. If it's necessary to pop the case, the suggestions to check in /My Documents/ for an obviously-named resume or some other identifying file that's less "private" than an Outlook mailbox will also help.

I'm interested if Lazlo, in addition to his commendable desire to return the laptop to its original owner, also has begun to see the laptop as a beckoning mystery.

"Begun to?" Hell, I saw it as a beckoning mystery the minute I saw it lying there in the gutter! I'm letting the better angels of my nature run the show on this one, though.

Open it up, find the owner, give them the laptop and a bill for your services.

Any suggestions for a slogan I can put on the invoice? Maybe "Studio Nibble: Leveraging Financial Advantage From Others' Misfortune Since 1984"?

Here in the UK people routinely ask the Police if anything that they have lost has been handed in.

Here on the outskirts of downtown Oakland, it rarely seems like the police have time for anything that they doesn't squirm when they taze it. But if the other approaches come up empty, I'll contact the local area commander and see what they suggest.

Thanks again to everyone. Once this is resolved I'll add a final post.
posted by Lazlo at 9:41 PM on December 15, 2005

Here on the outskirts of downtown Oakland, it rarely seems like the police have time for anything that they doesn't squirm when they taze it. But if the other approaches come up empty, I'll contact the local area commander and see what they suggest.

I wonder why? I mean, isn't that like asking the Treasury Secretary to accept your tax returns? I guess that the Police in europe just offer this extra, implicit service: if you find something, report it to the copper at the desk // if you lose something, report it to the copper at the desk. The area commander goes on with managing his goons armed with tazers.

Anyway - culture clashes all over, obviously.
posted by dash_slot- at 5:30 AM on December 17, 2005