Bike-ID reduces theft using micro-tags and ID-stickers.
The security elements of Bike-ID include 300 micro-tags and an ID-sticker
Biking is becoming every year a more popular form of transportation in Scandinavia and Baltics during the summer season, which also leads to increasing amount of stolen bikes. According to Finnish Federation of Financial Services, in Finland alone over 17,000 bikes were reported as stolen to insurance companies last year. According to Bike-ID, the number in whole Europe is over 3,5 million stolen bikes in a yearly basis.
To tackle the problem of bike security, startup company Bike-ID has created an innovative solution for decreasing bike thefts in Estonia. The system allows bike owners to register their rides for free to their database by frame number, which helps identifying the owners of lost and stolen bikes.
“As thieves remove the frame numbers of stolen bikes, we have created a security solution that helps to verify the owner of the bike,” says Meeri Klausen, the CEO of Bike-ID.
In Bike-ID, one may purchase in the registered bicycle a tamper proof security sticker and 300 titanium micro-tags that all bear a unique serial number for identification. The micro-tags are invisible to the eye as the diameter of one tag is approximately 0,4 millimeters. Klausen emphasizes that applying the security elements in a bike takes only few minutes, but the erasing of the tags and stickers is impossible without damaging significantly the surface of the bike.
Bike-ID microtags are size of sand grain
“While removing the security elements, there’s always a chance that some microtags remain on the bike. Therefore, a theft of a bike that has been marked with Bike-ID is not so tempting anymore, as it might be difficult to sell it,” says Klausen.
Preventing one of the most common crimes in Europe
As Bike-ID helps identifying bikes, it also makes the process of reporting about stolen bikes easier. Bike-ID automatically forwards all information about bikes that have been reported to be stolen to the Estonian police. The register also enables police to track the owner of found or stolen bicycle more conveniently.
“We put a lot of effort in to the co-operation with the police and board guards in preventing the most common crime in Europe.”
Bike-ID is at the moment available only in Estonia, but the aim of the company is to expand the registry across Europe. By expanding to other countries, the company wants to continue preventing bike thefts around Europe.
That’s gonna be a mission that many bike owners will appreciate as six bikes are stolen in the region every minute.
