I’ve written a new extension for Firefox, and it’s called FireFound:

FireFound is an add-on for Firefox and Fennec (mobile Firefox) that helps your find your computer (or mobile phone, in the case of Fennec) if it is lost or stolen. Every time your computer’s location changes, FireFound sends a secure message to a central server with its current location. You can then log into the server and see your computer’s current location.

All of the location data is encrypted, so no one can find out where your computer is without your password.

If you lose your computer, you can tell FireFound to clear your personal data (saved passwords, browsing history, etc.) if anyone starts your browser before you can retrieve it.

You can even run your own FireFound server; all of the code is open-source.

FireFound was chosen as a grand prize winner of the Extend Firefox 3.5 contest; since then, more than 6,000 people have installed FireFound, resulting in over 330,000 location updates.

FireFound was shut down on April 1, 2012.