Jefferson Jewell, the Co-Founder of Blackfin Technology, Inc. and the Communications Chair of EO Idaho, has been a popular guy lately. Earlier this month, his company was featured on the popular US-based television show called “Dateline NBC.”

Dateline did a special on how to track stolen iPods, and the producers of the show reached out to Jefferson for his technological expertise. Together with a detective, Jefferson created a plan to catch iPod thieves in action. He created a database much like Apple Computer’s – the creator of the popular iPods – and used brand new iPods as bait. After the thieves stole the iPods, they were instructed to register a modified version of Apple iTunes software. The software would collect information from the user’s computer and would also prompt them to hand over their contact information. When they clicked “I Agree” to the licensing agreement, they consented to transmitting their personal information to the producers of Dateline.

“The database information includes everything from what the user enters – including first name and last name – to information harvested from the user’s computer, including cell phone number, home phone number, home address, MySpace handle, IM handles and his or her email address,” said Jefferson. This information made it easy to find the iPod thieves, or so-called “i-Jackers.”

The producers of Dateline then traveled across the U.S. to confront the iPod thieves who were tracked using Jefferson’s technology. A hidden camera captured their reactions. To view the footage, visit Dateline NBC’s website.

Thanks to Jefferson Jewell’s company, half the iPods that Dateline planted were successfully tracked and recovered. Now on to the next step— how can technology like that developed by Jefferson’s company be used to prevent iPod theft in the future?

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