Everything from laptops to livestock is now being fitted with microdot tracking technology.
Chatting to ITWeb, Philip Opperman, CEO of micro tag identification and tracking solutions company Recoveri, highlighted that, while legislation dictates that all new vehicles be fitted with microdots, the trend appears to be moving towards the micro-dotting of smaller, personal assets like smartphones and computers.
"Microdots are trace devices that assist with investigative processes. Home invasions are big at the moment," said Opperman. "The police are getting the stuff back but can't identify where it was stolen from and who it belongs to. But with a microdot number, they are able to link the item to the owner and to the theft case number."
A former policeman, Opperman's initial interest in microdot technology emerged at a weekend braai, where 80% of attendees had experienced, or knew someone who had experienced, some type of theft.
According to Opperman, each microdot corresponds to a specific asset, which better allows the police to identify where the stolen vehicle or any other asset originally came from. He noted that this technology has significant benefits for the consumer. From a proactive perspective, the consumer is taking precautions should a theft occur, Opperman said, while from a reactive perspective, they are assisting the police in their efforts to recover the stolen goods.
For second-hand goods and pawn shops, this kind of trace device will help them to ascertain if the goods they are buying are stolen, he said. "Possessing a stolen asset is a criminal offence. This tech can guard resellers against this."
Opperman also mentioned that microdots can be fitted to rhinos in an effort to curb poaching. "Information and photographs of each micro-dotted rhino will appear on a database. If the rhino is poached and the horn is crushed, you will find the microdot and be able to learn where the animal came from." While similar trace work is being done with rhino DNA, Opperman believes this strategy is cheaper and quicker.
But in order for this to be a success, we need to mark our assets, he stressed.
"Visual policing and crime prevention is the only way to combat theft," he concluded. "You need to cut off the market for stolen goods, and the best way to do this is to contaminate the asset so that nobody wants to buy the stuff for fear of being caught."
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