ID-Art, INTERPOL's first App, recently celebrated its first birthday. Over 365 days, the App was downloaded more than 24,400 times in 170 countries. The first 10,000 downloads were recorded in September 2021 and these reached 20,000 in April 2022.
The United States, France, India, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain rank as the top six countries to have downloaded the App, while 36 per cent of users are women and 64 per cent are men. The most downloaded language is English, followed by Spanish, French and Arabic.
Some 96 per cent of users consult the App on a regular basis, generating more than 704,000 interactions during ID-Art’s first year. User interactions included manual search and visual searches, the creation of personal inventories on the App and reporting of stolen cultural objects to INTERPOL.
More than 43,600 searches were carried out on ID-Art since its launch. Of these, 27,200 were manual searches and 16,300 were carried out via the App’s visual search mode.
Both the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, as well as UNESCO, have this year encouraged member countries to use ID-Art via respective Resolutions underlining the App’s role in combatting illicit trafficking of cultural heritage.
During ID-Art’s first year, Specialized Police Units were able to recover 15 cultural objects registered in INTERPOL’s Stolen Works of Art database.
Among them are two statues recovered in Italy, two paintings in the Netherlands, a 13th century crucifix in Romania, three gold coins from the Roman Empire in Spain, as well as two Renaissance panels painted in 1540 in Spain.
ID-Art can be used by police officers, customs officials, the general public, private collectors, art dealers, journalists, students or art enthusiasts.
The App helps to identify stolen cultural property, reduce illicit trafficking, and increase the chances of recovering stolen items.
You can download ID-Art free of charge for Apple and Android mobile devices and it is available in INTERPOL's official languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish.
