Tracing
your luggage with TRACE ME tags
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We were curious to see how any other tag
could help trace your luggage apart from the airline’s
own tag and barcode that is why we set out to try TRACE
ME the new luggage tracker system created by Sophie Osbourn
and John Crosland in collaboration with the immobilise database.
The tag offers a registration and recovery service in the
form of an individual serial number and 2D bar code linked
to registration details on a secure data storage system
The objective is that because airline baggage handlers place
a paper tag on your luggage when you check in, when that
paper tag is lost or damaged, the luggage becomes untraceable.
The TRACE ME tags on the other hand are durable and are
part of the Mobile Equipment National Database (MEND), which
holds billions of items of discrete information relating
to property ownership and is operated by the secure data
firm Immobilise. Data stored on MEND comes from a myriad
of sources including law enforcement and government organisations
from over 40 countries worldwide.
Sophie Osbourn says of her product “It
is a means whereby travellers can add an extra level of
security because luggage does fall through the existing
system as has been proven in the various articles relating
to unidentifiable luggage being offered for sale at public
auction. None of us wants to see our possessions on eBay
or to have private documents that were packed in our suitcases
passing into the hands of the highest bidder”
Our
tried and tested verdict
Airlines will not initially use the TRACE
ME tag to start tracing your luggage but may use the tag
and its details to help to identify your specific luggage
after it has been traced through their own systems. TRACE
ME is useful however, when the airline’s own baggage
tag has been defaced or torn off your luggage. It is also
handy if you do not want to expose yourself to identity
theft, by registering your personal details on your belongings.
Because many bags look so alike these days, it is important
however, that you try to tag your luggage in more ways than
one so as to make it easy for it to be retrieved either
direct from the belt or after it is lost.
Trace Me Tags cost £12.50 each or £19.95 for
two with a lifetime guarantee and same-day dispatch.
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