The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that the trafficking of cultural heritage items is worth about $10 billion annually, meaning the trade in stolen art and artifacts is a lucrative albeit detrimental venture that continues to cause a headache for art owners, creators, museums, and law enforcement agencies, but now, there's an app solution to mitigate this catastrophe.

Interpol, the global network of international police organization, last week, launched an app, named ID-Art, which will make the process of identifying and reporting stolen works an easy task for anyone with a smartphone. 

The app is linked to Interpol's database of 52,000 stolen artworks from around the world and a user can upload images or input keywords to search for information about specific missing objects or cross-check if a suspected artwork is actually listed on the stolen art database. Users who come across valuable information will be encouraged and directed to report their findings directly to the police by the app's pop-ups. 

Collectors and art owners can also use ID-Art’s reverse-image search feature to check whether an item they purchased has an illegal origin because lax provenance laws mean that some illegally acquired artworks surface on the floors of major auction houses and in the collections of famous museums.

“In recent years we’ve witnessed the unprecedented ransack by terrorists of the cultural heritage of countries arising from armed conflict, organized looting, and cultural cleansing,” says Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock in a statement. “This new tool is a significant step forward in enhancing the ability of police officers, cultural heritage professionals, and the general public to protect our common heritage.”

The app which is available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish, in its pilot phase had already recorded significant success. Italian police used it to successfully identify two stolen statues earlier this year; in the Netherlands, the Dutch Art Crime Unit located and recovered two stolen paintings after checking an online sales catalog published by an Amsterdam auction house.

Interpol also stated that ID-Art provides tools for people on the front lines of cultural heritage preservation, as users can upload photos of threatened heritage sites and create a “site card” with a timestamp, a geographic location, and a detailed description of the scene. These crowdsourced images and information can provide a bank of digital evidence if the site is looted or destroyed.

The app marks the organization’s latest effort to provide the public with the tools necessary to combat art and artifact trafficking. By making its stolen artwork database fully accessible and searchable, Interpol hopes to make it easier for people who handle, sell or buy art to certify that their actions are legal.