Patent ID: 7973655

Claim:
A mobile device that reports on its external surrounding environment over a network to assist a user in tracking the mobile device, comprising: a sensor; a memory for storing processor executable instructions; and a processor for executing the stored instructions to enable actions, including: enabling manual configuring of the mobile device to automatically report on its surrounding environment to a server over the network based on a subsequent occurrence of at least one selected type of a plurality of types of reporting events; if the at least one selected type of reporting event occurs, capturing at least one sensory datum related to the external surrounding environment of the mobile device via the sensor and at least one locating datum that is provided prior to an occurrence of the reporting event, wherein the at least one locating datum includes an IP address that is currently valid and assigned to the mobile device and further corresponds to an entry in a table of IP addresses that are mapped to geographic locations; generating a report that includes the at least one sensory datum and the at least one locating datum, wherein the locating datum is employed to provide at least an approximate geographic location of the mobile device for display on a map; and sending the report over the network to the server to enable the user to review the type of the reporting event, the sensory datum and the location displayed on the map for remotely monitoring the surrounding environment of the mobile device at the time that the at least one selected type of the reporting event occurred.