Taxi driver poll reveals mobiles top list of passengers' left-behind items

Chicago, Jan. 25, 2005 -- (MobileVillage) -- In light of a new nine-nation survey that shows that people have a tendency to leave their mobile devices in the back of taxis, device owners and their employers are being urged to protect their data.

In the last six months alone, the survey of leading taxi companies in Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, and the U.S. reveals that tens of thousands of digital devices were left behind inadvertently. The U.S. company polled in the survey, a major Chicago cab company, reported the highest number of losses per taxi of all firms studied, both in mobile phones (3.42 per cab) and PDAs/Pocket PCs (0.86 per cab).

Based on the large size of the Chicago company's fleet, the statistics indicate a staggering 85,619 mobile phones, 21,460 PDAs/Pocket PCs, and 4,425 laptops left in the firm's licensed cabs during the six months covered in the study. Only London, with 0.21 laptops lost per cab versus the Chicago firm's 0.18, was higher in any category.

The statistics point to the need for vigilance in data protection. Many of today's mobile devices have a standard memory capacity of 80 megabytes; such capacities can support the equivalent of 6,000 Microsoft Word documents, 720,000 emails, 360,000 contact details, or 7,200 pictures.

Most new mobile smartphones have password and encryption capabilities, but such features are often overlooked and data is at risk, says mobile security company Pointsec, which commissioned the survey.

Pointsec first commissioned the study four years ago in London. The company says that this year's results show a big increase in the number of left-behind mobiles, with 71% more laptops and 350% more Pocket PCs/PDAs being left behind in that city than in 2001. (This may be due to the higher number of mobile device owners.)

The study was carried out among 900 licensed taxi drivers in London, Helsinki, Oslo, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Chicago and Sydney. In each city, written surveys were administered by supervisors to drivers during their normal shifts. The results highlight the need to secure sensitive, valuable or compromising information using data encryption and user access control.

Not all results of the research were negative, however. Globally, an average of 80% of all passengers were reunited with their mobile phones and 96% with their Pocket PCs/PDAs and laptops-with the cab drivers themselves, in almost all cases, tracking down the owners.

Worst on the list was Sydney, Australia, where only 46% of Down Under passengers bothered to reclaim their mobiles. Only 18% ever reunited with their laptops.

When asked what was the strangest item left in their taxis, drivers around the world had no shortage of bizarre replies. Forgotten condoms seemed to top the list; however pets, undergarments, knives, and luggage were also strong contenders.

UK taxi drivers admitted to finding a harp, a throne, £100,000 in diamonds, 37 milk bottles, and a baby. Among the possessions found in Chicago cabs were a violin case, a cat, prescription Viagra, a treasure bond worth $2.5 million, and a prosthetic leg.

In Munich, one taxi driver was shocked when he turned around to find his passenger dead.

Perhaps the best story came from a female London cab driver who discovered her fare, British celebrity socialite Jemima Khan, had left her iPod, mobile phone, and purse in the woman's taxi. When the cabbie got the call to return the items to Khan's friend, she was delighted to discover the friend was actor Hugh Grant. Grant gave the driver his autograph as a thank you.

Recent Related Stories:

Users, firms at odds on mobile devices (Network World)

Carriers increase companies' control over handhelds (Network World)

In-vehicle surveillance video can be viewed from mobiles

Poll: 56% of U.S. cellphone users don't want a listing in planned wireless directory

Back to MobileVillage News Page