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Apple Introduces AirTag

apple.com

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Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#71

Post by crazygringo »

I thought one of the big use cases for this was to track stolen items, like a backpack or maybe even a bicycle.

But the "anti-stalking" feature will notify someone if an AirTag they don't own appears to be traveling with them.

Does this render it useless for anti-theft, then? Since it will just notify a thief that the bike they just stole is being tracked, and they can look for the AirTag and throw it in the nearest trash can?

Not criticizing Apple here -- anti-stalking is super-important -- but just looking for clarification if this will help you find lost items, but not stolen ones.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#72

Post by shuckles »

rodiger wrote: post #30
t0mas88 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're being down voted because this is described on the page. If a tag not linked to your phone travels with you frequently while being away from its owner you'll get a notification.

What if you don't have an iPhone?

If you don’t have an iPhone, your device isn’t assisting the tracker. This is equivalent to being tracked by any one of the many existing such devices.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#75

Post by puttycat »

This is truly revolutionary for pet owners. All existing solutions I know of have at least one fault-intolerant property that makes them useless for the lost-pet use case (battery / size / unreliable connection coverage / etc.)

If I understand correctly Apple tags solve all of these at once.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#76

Post by function_seven »

Nextgrid wrote: post #45
dbt00 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the link: "iOS devices can also detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner, and notify the user if an unknown AirTag is seen to be traveling with them from place to place over time."

I wonder how they allow a device to tell that the same AirTag is being seen repeatedly without allowing malicious third-parties to do the same? I thought the system was designed in such a way that the data is meaningless to anyone but the owner of the tag, so that third-parties can't learn anything from said data.

My speculation:

The iOS device keeps seeing a random AirTag in close proximity. Even as the ID rotates, it's still about 2m away, and continues to be 2m away as you move. It doesn't know who it belongs to, but it's probably the same physical device, because it keeps going to wherever you're going.

That's a different scenario than the evil store owner who wants to track their customers. In that case, it's just a random procession of tags roaming about the store. A tag arriving at the store on repeated days has nothing to indicate that it's the same one.

So if it's being used as a malicious tracker (hidden in someone's car or purse), then the constant proximity is a clue. But if someone is trying to guess which tag belongs to a specific person, they can't unless they maintain constant contact with that tag over a long timeline. At that point, they can just see you :)

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#77

Post by endisneigh »

WORMS_EAT_WORMS wrote: post #9

If I was evil and stuck these to ex-girlfriend/boyfriend car or something, illegal? Edit: Downvoters. I am not doing this obviously. Am asking as this is the clear abuse I see. Tracking people without permission. I see this as being a weird legal thing we hear about down the road.

Downvoted because this is literally addressed in the article:

> AirTag is also designed with a set of proactive features that discourage unwanted tracking, an industry first. Bluetooth signal identifiers transmitted by AirTag rotate frequently to prevent unwanted location tracking. iOS devices can also detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner, and notify the user if an unknown AirTag is seen to be traveling with them from place to place over time. And even if users don’t have an iOS device, an AirTag separated from its owner for an extended period of time will play a sound when moved to draw attention to it. If a user detects an unknown AirTag, they can tap it with their iPhone or NFC-capable device and instructions will guide them to disable the unknown AirTag.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#78

Post by tlrobinson »

chrisbolt wrote: post #70
kolinko wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May be due to their commutment to carbon neutrality and low/zero waste?

It’s less wasteful to use disposable and non-rechargeable batteries?

Many of the competitors are entirely disposable. I’m not aware of any very small ones that are rechargeable.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#79

Post by hundchenkatze »

chrisbolt wrote: post #70
kolinko wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May be due to their commutment to carbon neutrality and low/zero waste?

It’s less wasteful to use disposable and non-rechargeable batteries?

There's more to these than just batteries. If they had sealed-in a rechargeable battery then you'd have to throw out the whole thing and buy a new one once it stopped holding a charge. This way you can just buy your own rechargeable CR2032 batteries.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#80

Post by phlyingpenguin »

ffggvv wrote: post #58
jypepin wrote: post #18

This is directly competing with Tile[0] which you can buy 2 for 39.99. I guess the integration with Find My app would be pretty convenient but probably not worth the price difference? [0] https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/store/tiles/sticker

yeah but they can’t use apples internal apis to track things. so apple gets to cheat unfairly on ios

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/04/apples-find-my-networ...
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