Erica Sadun has released the first beta version of a freeware anti-theft application for Apple iPhone called iPhone FindMe. Findme is a command-line utility that returns the location of the cell phone tower nearest to your iPhone. When run, the utility tells you the GSM tower’s cell id as well as its latitude and longitude with the help of Google Maps. It then autosubmits the information to Yahoo, and gets back the name of your city and state in return. This is not a full fledged anti-theft cellphone recovery software but just serves the basic purpose of retrieving data to locate the mobile phone.

FindMe works in conjunction with a private account from Twitter that allows your iPhone to phone home but keeps the location information secure and restricted to certain users such as your family members or close friends. To do this, create a new Twitter account just for your iPhone. Then log into your Twitter account, open the Settings panel, and look for the “Protect My Updates” option. Select it and click Save. With protected updates, only the Twitter users you approve will see the updates for this account.

After creating your phone’s Twitter account, you’re ready to set up your iPhone to tweet your GSM location on a regular basis. Also note that your iPhone will only be able to call in to the server and send twitter updates if it has Internet access, through EDGE or WiFi.

On a side note, you can also use a public Twitter account if you want everyone to be able to track your progress say while you are travelling.

Check this post on TUAW for detailed setup instructions. To download iPhone FindMe, click here.