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Apple Introduces AirTag

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Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#441

Post by roughly »

duskwuff wrote: post #300
randyrand wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

....It’s alerting thieves that the device they stole is being tracked. That’s anti-user. The user is the one trying to do the tracking.

And not the user of the phone that is reporting the location of those tags to a stalker? Their interests are important too. Anyways, I don't think there was ever any intent for AirTags to function as an anti-theft tracking device. Anti-theft is much harder to do well than anti-loss (which is what Apple is targeting), and is very difficult to distinguish from stalkerware for a mass-market product.

> stalkerware for a mass-market product

which is specifically a problem Apple has had with "Find My", so it's nice to see them taking it seriously here.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#442

Post by mooman219 »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #235
tchanglington wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s going to be real funny if non Apple users are basically fair game for AirTags tracking and you have to get an iPhone to protect yourself from AirStalking

You can already purchase a huge range of items that do exactly what an airtag does. Everyone is already fair game for this type of stalking, it is silly to try and paint apple in a bad light here.

I personally don't think anyone is fair game for stalking and this device lowering the barrier to entry should be discussed, and discussing it shouldn't get the kneejerk reaction that they're being painted in a bad light. There are plenty of questions here like:

- How does the anti stalking alert in apartment buildings or people frequently in close proximity for long periods of time?

- Since they considered that this is a risk in the first place then are non Apple users are risk here too? Did they provide appropriate mitigations for them as well?

- What's the future for the Find My network? It would be interesting to standardize and allow for more interoperability in the Find My network.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#443

Post by newsclues »

dariusj18 wrote: post #394
pseudalopex wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has to be away from the owner to trigger the warning.

So after the owner accidentally leaves it on the train, someone will be notified to look for whatever item was so important that it needed to be tracked.

Indeed I much rather get an alert on my watch that I’m about to leave the train on the way home with my phone still on my seat.

The evolution will be smarter and stickier the more you invest in the ecosystem

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#444

Post by [deleted] »

xyzwave wrote: post #174
burlesona wrote: post #100

The "commercial" they used to introduce this during the event was hilarious and awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbApA2JLZ_c

I interpreted the end as “took psychedelic mushrooms and lost your keys? AirTag’s got your back”. But maybe that’s just me.

[deleted]

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#445

Post by m3kw9 »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #433
habibur wrote: post #16

> AirTag is designed for over a year’s worth of battery life with everyday use. The CR2032 battery is user-replaceable and widely available. Replacement batteries are sold separately. That's the piece of information I wanted to know first. Devices like this can be built, but those can't run on batteries for a reasonable time frame. Apple made it practical.

God damn it's like I'm back in 2010 where people praise Apple for doing things other people have already done. Apple did not invent device trackers with replaceable batteries. Tile has been doing that since 2018 on some of their devices (Basically all except the smallest ones), and I imagine someone else did it before then.

Is like wireless head phones, Apple didn’t invent them, but they get praised because of of great they didn’t it.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#446

Post by coryking »

dariusj18 wrote: post #391
diebeforei485 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They mentioned this exact scenario on their website[1] > Of course, if you happen to be with a friend who has an AirTag, or on a train with a whole bunch of people with AirTag, don’t worry. These alerts are triggered only when an AirTag is separated from its owner. 1. https://www.apple.com/airtag/

So if my family has a single car and we share keys it's going to annoy each of us that isn't the owner of the tag.

If they are part of your "family" in the apple ecosystem maybe it figures it out?

Dunno.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#447

Post by JKCalhoun »

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.

No reason people couldn't have been doing this with iPhones for the past decade (albeit that's a pretty pricey tag).

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#448

Post by zelly »

So what's the point of LoJack now? This will probably bankrupt them. The most practical use for this product is hiding them in cars and tracking car thieves.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#449

Post by labcomputer »

buzzert wrote: post #127
p49k wrote: post #59

I am so happy to finally rid myself of all Tile devices after this announcement. Tile has been one of the worst companies I’ve ever dealt with when it comes to dark patterns. Their app is one of the few I’d describe as having UI that’s actively hostile toward the customer.

I haven’t heard about this. Can you explain more?

The app:

* Constant nudging to buy more with all the usual high-pressure sales patterns (creating urgency, doubt, etc)

* Implies tiles with non-replaceable batteries will stop working after a fixed time (they won't).

Other things:

* The tile network is not as complete as I'd want it to be. I once lost my keys at work, and someone turned them in to security. It took a week before I was able to figure out what happened--I guess neither the finder nor anyone working near the security office had the tile app.

* Fairly high subscription fees for the tiles with replaceable batteries.

* Tiles are fairly thick. Even the new Tile Slim is pretty thick to put in a wallet.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#450

Post by Mandatum »

It looks like everyone ships AirTag location data to Apple, I wonder what the privacy implications are for this..

AirTags on a stolen vehicle

AirTags on a VIP

Apple's data about AirTag logs - when was Apple device X next to AirTag Y..

I also wonder what happens if you have a device that repeatedly calls the AirTag to drain the battery..

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