Phones’ auto-uploading feature creates the ‘thiefie’

The website wheninmanila.com calls it the thief selfie, or “thiefie”: a selfie taken on a stolen phone, with the photo then automatically uploaded online without the thief's knowledge for the phone's owner (and the world) to see.

Dropbox's Camera Upload feature automatically uploads photos taken by cameras or phones synced with the Dropbox account, creating backups. It has also exposed cellphone thieves in a number of instances around the world.

Some days ago, a volunteer at Villamor Airbase who had her phone stolen saw photos of a man taken by himself uploaded to her Dropbox account.

Victim NJ Torres, upon seeing the selfies of the presumed cellphone thief, posted about the incident on her Facebook page. Wheninmanila.com picked up the story. Now, Mr. Thiefie's face is all over the Internet.

While the suspect denies the accusations, a report from Kicker Daily News said that Torres was “positive about the suspect’s identity as [she] recognized his face from the selfie as one among the crowd she’d mistaken for just another volunteer like her”.

This isn't the first time a thief unknowingly had his photos uploaded to a synced Dropbox account.

A victim from a different part of the world made a Tumblr account dedicated to the alleged thief who stole her phone.

“This is the inspiring story of Hafid from Dubai, the douchebag who stole my phone. He forgot to switch off the camera upload function, that's why we will enjoy a deep insight into his life.”

The Tumblr account features a series of photographs and videos of "Hafid" on the beach, at home, and out dancing—all coupled with mocking, hilarious captions.

The blog's first post was dated July 28 of this year. The last entry was posted in November.

And then there's Niklaus Knecht, whose phone was stolen in Morocco. He now wants to meet the girl whose photos have been showing up in his Dropbox—because he'd like to go on a date with her.

Although auto-upload feature does not necessarily prove that the selfie subjects are guilty, it definitely leads to perhaps a more severe punishment than jail time: public shaming. — BM/TJD, GMA News