The new user sleeps next to Kaufman's MacBook. The Oakland Police Department is still investigating the crime to determine who stole the computer. Photo: Joshua Kaufman/Hidden App

Yet another stolen laptop has been recovered, thanks to a public broadcast of digital information from the computer in question — including photos of its new user.

On Tuesday night, software programmer Joshua Kaufman got his MacBook back. It had been stolen two months prior. The recovery was thanks to the blog Kaufman started called ThisGuyHasMyMacBook, which was populated with screenshots and pictures Kaufman collected using a security app called Hidden he had installed before the computer was stolen.

Kaufman was able to see everything that was happening on his laptop from afar and take photos of its possessor using the built-in camera. (Note: The photos show the new user, but the Oakland Police Department is still investigating to determine whether he was involved in stealing the computer from Kaufman.)

The voyeuristic photos and vigilante nature of ThisGuyHasMyMacBook stirred up an internet frenzy, getting tens of thousands of Facebook recommendations and Tweets.

“I wasn’t surprised by the interest. I just didn’t think it would get so big, so fast,” says Kaufman.

Photo: Joshua Kaufman/Hidden App

The theft was a low priority for the Oakland Police Department for two months, until the media caught wind of the story.

Joshua Kaufman holds up his recovered MacBook outside his office in San Francisco. Photo: Jeff Chiu/AP

“[On May 31] I received a call from Officer Joshi of the Oakland Police Department after she was contacted by Good Morning America,” says Kaufman on his blog. “She told me that the Oakland Police Department would be following up on my case immediately.”

Later that evening the MacBook was recovered.

This perfectly spun tale with its triumphant ending roused doubt in a few who suspected it was a clever viral-marketing stunt.

Hidden emphatically denies any prior connection to Kaufman or his Tumblr account: “He had no connection with us whatsoever!”

This is not the first time tracking software has been used to recover items. In January, a laptop stolen in Bremerton, Washington, was monitored by its owner on its journey to Southern California, using Orbicule software, which takes a photo and GPS coordinates every eight minutes when the computer is connected to the internet.

Last month, a man used Prey software to track his MacBook to a New York bar.

The ability to visually name and shame new users of stolen computers potentially changes the game for would-be thieves and their clients. It’s likely not the way one would want to become an internet celebrity.

Photo: Joshua Kaufman/Hidden App