Lost and Found

November 11, 2007 9:38 AM

I recently found an iPod on the ground. What should I do?

I found this iPod in my apartment's parking lot. I'm planning on putting up a sign by the apartment mailboxes saying something like "Found: iPod. Call for info."

If I were to do something like that, how would I verify that the person calling actually owns the iPod? There is no personally identifying information on the iPod itself, other than music (which is very generic college-student music). No movies, contacts, etc. I called the Apple Store, thinking that there might be a way to get the iPod's serial number off the original owner's iTunes, but they said there wasn't.

So, suppose I get a call from somebody claiming it's theirs: How can I be sure I'm giving it away to the right person?

Bonus question: Suppose nobody calls. How long should I keep the sign up before I take it down and keep the iPod? Am I justified in doing that at all?

posted by soonertbone to Law & Government (34 answers total)

I'd take it to the police, personally. Just remove myself from the equation completely.
posted by Lucinda at 9:42 AM on November 11, 2007

You could start by having any callers tell you what sort of model iPod it is (nano, classic, touch, etc) and also what color it is. I would also ask any callers about the music on there as well. The first question should about the color and model should help narrow things down nicely.
posted by inconsequentialist at 9:45 AM on November 11, 2007

I think an easy way to verify would be if there were any playlists, either On-The-Go or named, or by asking for the model and for a list of eight to ten the bands. If it was my MP3 player I could probably name the first and last alphabetically, or which albums under a particular artist were on there, and I'm no music savant.

I think you should leave the sign up for at least three weeks, though I confess that if it was shitty, deplorable music I'd leave it up for less time.
posted by farishta at 9:46 AM on November 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

So there's no unique id info at all, right? Well, ask for:
1. color and model, including amount of GB
2. ask for as many artists and songs possible
3. location where they think they lost the iPod
4. obviously, a receipt is a major credibility booster

BTW, don't put up your phone number. Use a throw away e-mail account for your own sanity/safety. Wait a couple of weeks and select most likely owner or none at all.

It's a decent thing you're doing by the way. I would really appreciate if someone went through all that trouble to return my audio player.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 9:49 AM on November 11, 2007

Asking how many songs and of what type is perfectly reasonable. If they can name 10 bands on it, what's the issue?

Just because there are generic bands on there doesn't mean that people will assume that there are generic bands on there. You also have the catch all of the colour, too.

However, the right thing to do is to hand it in to the police. If this is anything like the UK, after a period of it not being claimed (three weeks in the UK) the article legally becomes yours.
posted by Brockles at 9:50 AM on November 11, 2007

You might also check to see if the person has named their iPod. You can check this by going into 'settings' and then click 'about.' The name of the iPod should be at the top of that screen. My iPod, for example, is named 'Cyrena's iPod.'
posted by inconsequentialist at 9:56 AM on November 11, 2007

You could plug it into iTunes and sort by most recently played. Then you could ask the person what they were last listening to before he/she lost it.

Alternatively, you could sort by play count and ask them what they listen to the most.
posted by helios at 10:02 AM on November 11, 2007

On preview, seconding all previous suggestions.

Also, have you hooked the iPod up to your computer? Does it have a name? Any files--word docs, etc.--that show up on the computer but not when browsing the iPod?

For complete certainty, you could use iPod's DRM properties. Ask the caller to bring his or her laptop. Connect the iPod. An iPod connecting to the computer from which it usually syncs will display its contents on the "home" computer, but any other computer will be unable to display current songs or sync with the iPod without overwriting current contents. It's part of the DRM.

As far as keeping the device, I vote 30 days. When I worked at my local library, if I found something and turned it in to Lost and Found, I could get it back and keep it if no one claimed it for 30 days. I assume that was legal.
posted by whimwit at 10:03 AM on November 11, 2007

It's not a shared parking lot, is it? If so, maybe post at other places shared by it.

Ok, so you asked about how to verify it's his/hers. Don't force people to bring their computers. Some have desktops.
posted by ALongDecember at 10:09 AM on November 11, 2007

If it contains photos, that might make for easy confirmation.
posted by sexymofo at 10:11 AM on November 11, 2007

Call Apple directly. If it's registered they may be able to contact the owner. The Apple store may have given you the wrong answer.
posted by The Deej at 10:19 AM on November 11, 2007

Why not ask the caller(s) to prove it, and leave it up to them? If you found mine, I could describe it pretty well: it has several scratches running horizontally across the screen. It's a 30GB black iPod. I can name some oddly-named playlists on it, and mention some of the more obscure artists on it. I'm willing to bet that not too many people have Dan Deacon, for example, nor a picture of my family in the Photos section. (Actually, careful about using scratches as an identifying feature... It was found in a parking lot.)

In other words, let them do the talking. If you asked me to name the artists alphabetically, I don't know how well I'd do. But if you just asked me to describe it, I could do a better job than anyone else.

Don't grill them too extensively... If you found my iPod and made me jump through hoops, I'd start to get pretty ticked off.
posted by fogster at 10:21 AM on November 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Let the police deal with it. If you do anything else you might expose yourself to criminal liability for theft by finding, depending on jurisdiction. Or civil liability for giving it to the wrong person.
posted by grouse at 10:21 AM on November 11, 2007

How long ago did you find it? I mean if I'd lost my iPod someplace, I wouldn't go around looking for "found iPod" signs. I'd go around putting up "lost iPod" signs.

Looking around for those could potentially save you a whole lot of trouble. And if it doesn't happen in about a week or so, then you can still fall back on putting up your signs.
posted by Naberius at 10:27 AM on November 11, 2007

Don't turn it into the police. I doubt they will give two farts about an iPod (nor should they, unless you live in the quietest town in the world--they should be focusing on real problems). I don't know whether someone at the police station would even bother to take someone's number if they called about it.
posted by Deathalicious at 10:28 AM on November 11, 2007

I don't know where the poster lives but I'm sure that the police in my city wouldn't know what to do with it and wouldn't be interested in trying. I've had friends who had cars stolen and the police didn't even both to tell them that they had found it. I can't imagine that they'd lift a finger to find the owner of an ipod.
posted by octothorpe at 10:34 AM on November 11, 2007

I was in this situation once. I looked at the serial number on the back and called Apple. They gave me all the information they had on the guy. This happened to be just a first name and last initial, but it was enough for me to track him down. He was -extremely- grateful! (It turned out to have been weeks since he'd lost it, so a sign wouldn't have worked.)
posted by wyzewoman at 10:40 AM on November 11, 2007

No, I don't think the police would do anything to find the owner either. I do think they would store found items for a limited time and have procedures to deal with claims on those items. I know the police here do, having dealt with them on found items before. Your mileage may vary.

Or do what wyzewoman says.
posted by grouse at 10:43 AM on November 11, 2007

Leave the police out of it. At best, it'll just sit in a catch-all bin. At worst, it'll go home with one of them. Seriously. Police simply aren't in the lost-and-found business.

Try the Apple serial number approach first. You might get lucky.

After that, go with the "Found, iPod. Email/call" idea. Definitely post signs in and around the area you found it. After a couple of weeks, if no one has called or correctly identified it...enjoy.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:00 AM on November 11, 2007

If I run the command "defaults read com.apple.iPod" on my Mac, it spits out some information about the devices it knows about, including when it was last connected and what its serial number is. On Windows, it's probably stored in the Registry, but I don't know how you'd look at that.
posted by hattifattener at 11:07 AM on November 11, 2007

You really should hook it up to your computer. I have lots of files and folders that are on my IPOD that do not show up on the ipod itself. You will be able to see what the ipod is named also.
posted by Black_Umbrella at 11:15 AM on November 11, 2007

Also, if you put up signs that you found it, maybe just call it a "portable MP3 audio player", at least that way they have to know its ipod and not a zune, etc.
posted by Black_Umbrella at 11:17 AM on November 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

I believe on most iPods you can go to "Settings > About" and it will tell you the name the iPod was registered under, and the volume name if you mount it should be similar.

If you contact Apple, they will likely have you ship the item to them if they have contact information, and they will ship it to the customer.
posted by weston at 11:19 AM on November 11, 2007

Plug it in? My iPod says K8t's lil green nano, for example.
posted by k8t at 12:04 PM on November 11, 2007

Veracity. Plug it into your computer.

The ipod will show up in itunes. THERE WILL BE EVERY PLAYLIST + artist etc.
Tell the person to go to their itunes and name some of the playlists.
As long as they vaguely have managed to create a playlist, you'll be able to tell right away.
posted by filmgeek at 12:19 PM on November 11, 2007

Ask anyone who calls to claim the iPod to provide the serial number.

Every iPod has a serial number. You can find it etched into the back, or look it up through the iPod's menu system. If the original owner purchased the iPod from Apple, he or she will be able to retrieve the serial number from Apple (I have done this).
posted by reeddavid at 12:45 PM on November 11, 2007

The time I found an iPod, I just looked under the "Contacts" menu. It was easy to figure out who to call to get in touch with the owner. Have you checked the "Contacts" menu?
posted by procrastination at 2:44 PM on November 11, 2007

If it was synced to the computer (and the default is that it was) then the music on it and on their home machine should be the same. They should be able to read you the entire list of songs in alphabetical order.
posted by agentofselection at 3:28 PM on November 11, 2007

I second asking the owner just to prove it is theirs. I might not be able to answer all the questions that have been posted above, but I am certain that I could tell you enough about it that you would know I wasn't lying.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 3:40 PM on November 11, 2007

This all sounds like an awful lot of work. I commend you on your altruism. The flyer idea and cops sound like a long shot . I would investigate the serial If it could be done at the computer , but I doubt it. Commodities get lost and it's just... shit happens. If you are really wringing your hands over whether you are justified in keeping it, you shouldn't have picked it up at all.
posted by Student of Man at 6:24 PM on November 11, 2007

Another idea:

If they've purchased anything from the iTunes Store, you might have some more information to go on. If there's a "Purchased" playlist on the iPod, anything in there should work.

iTunes displays "Purchased by: [Full Name]" and "Account Name: [itunesaccount]" in the Summary tab of the Get Info window for any such files.

Apple will probably have account information including credit card details and a billing address associated with the iTunes account. Also, the itunesaccount may occasionally take the form of an email address, in which case you could try emailing them yourself.

Note that one iPod can have music that more than one person has bought from the iTunes Store, but it's likely that whoever did buy the music will know the iPod's owner.
posted by Asymptote at 8:58 PM on November 11, 2007

You said you're planning to put a sign up that says "Found: iPod. Call for info." I would simply suggest not doing this.

Instead, put up a sign that says "Lost something recently? I found an item in the parking lot. If you've lost something, call for details." (or similar).

This way you're not advertising that it's an iPod. The person that did lose their iPod would surely call you and be able to verify what they lost and when. This would keep you from getting fakers trying to score a free iPod. And if you still wanted proof, you could employ the previous suggestions and get them to prove to you that it was theirs.

Same technique applies if you find money in the workplace, etc. Just ask people if they've lost anything recently - nondescript, this way the real owner is the only one that can tell you what they lost.
posted by sprocket87 at 8:55 AM on November 12, 2007

sprocket87, who knows what has been lost in a parking lot. If we are talking about a NYC parking lot, something that generic would bring in a lot of unwanted calls.
posted by Black_Umbrella at 9:00 AM on November 13, 2007

And who does that hurt exactly? I honestly doubt you'd get more than a few calls, if any, and it would be easy to say "What'd you lose? Oh, a keyring? Nope, sorry, bye".
posted by sprocket87 at 8:18 PM on November 13, 2007