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Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

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Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#151

Post by 323 »

seadan83 wrote: post #96
mdoms wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't see how creepy + children = danger?

I think they do. It's more, which should you fear more: your bath tub or someone rampaging in the street with a knife? The statistics say you should be far more afraid of your bath tub, there is a decent chance it will be your cause of death. The 'stranger' in the street is about as likely as lottery odds. So when it comes to children, abuse at home is several (if not many) magnitudes more likely than a stranger tryi…

Depends on the street. If you are in downtown San Francisco for example, all bets are off...

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#152

Post by danesparza »

kemayo wrote: post #86

This is news just because it's an Apple device being used for something that was already trivially possible. GPS trackers designed to be magnet-attached to a car which report their location via cell signal cost ~$20 on Amazon. You then tend to need to pay for either a SIM card or a subscription to the device maker's service -- bringing you up to about the cost of an AirTag. These are much harder to detect, as you mig…

"GPS trackers designed to be magnet-attached to a car which report their location via cell signal cost ~$20 on Amazon. You then tend to need to pay for either a SIM card or a subscription to the device maker's service -- bringing you up to about the cost of an AirTag. These are much harder to detect, as you might imagine."

Yes ... but Apple has built a mesh network to report the position of people who don't want to be tracked ... and clearly are being tracked. And it's very possible my own iphone is being used in the service of an evil actor. That feels ... different. Ethically -- if not technically.

"It's tricky to make something that lets you find where you dropped your keys while walking the dog that can't also be used for nefarious purposes." This seems awfully blithe. I suspect you aren't a woman. Or that you don't have daughters old enough to live on their own.

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#153

Post by kadoban »

madeofpalk wrote: post #122
raydev wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is news just because it's an Apple device being used for something that was already trivially possible. > GPS trackers designed to be magnet-attached to a car which report their location via cell signal cost ~$20 on Amazon. You then tend to need to pay for either a SIM card or a subscription to the device maker's service -- bringing you up to about the cost of an AirTag. So you're saying Apple made it even mor…

In one way. In another way, the only way the tweet author knew was because Apple alerted them to the fact that they were being tracked. Other trackers would not do that. It seems Apple actively put effort into thwarting this kind of use.

They did the bare minimum so that once in a while creepy stalkers will get noticed. Should we give them an award?

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#154

Post by godelski »

kemayo wrote: post #86

This is news just because it's an Apple device being used for something that was already trivially possible. GPS trackers designed to be magnet-attached to a car which report their location via cell signal cost ~$20 on Amazon. You then tend to need to pay for either a SIM card or a subscription to the device maker's service -- bringing you up to about the cost of an AirTag. These are much harder to detect, as you mig…

While you're correct, I think there is something to be said about the popularization of the technology. Most people aren't aware of GPS trackers other than movies and think they are much harder to come by. AirTags are also less nefarious by nature. If you get caught with a GPS tracker on your person that's pretty suspicious. If you're caught placing an AirTag on someone's car it's easier to pretend you dropped it and are looking for it. I'd also say that the popularization increases the chance of use in the moment. You already have the AirTag and can decide do that tracking. With the GPS you have to do forward planning. I do think there's a difference here that could lead to more people being tracked. Crimes of opportunity are different than planned crimes, and I assume much more common.

It is good that Apple is notifying users when being followed. But it seems that too many false positives are getting people to ignore the messages. Though this is a hard thing to combat.

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#155

Post by ConcernedCoder »

madeofpalk wrote: post #122
raydev wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is news just because it's an Apple device being used for something that was already trivially possible. > GPS trackers designed to be magnet-attached to a car which report their location via cell signal cost ~$20 on Amazon. You then tend to need to pay for either a SIM card or a subscription to the device maker's service -- bringing you up to about the cost of an AirTag. So you're saying Apple made it even mor…

In one way. In another way, the only way the tweet author knew was because Apple alerted them to the fact that they were being tracked. Other trackers would not do that. It seems Apple actively put effort into thwarting this kind of use.

meta irony! The device that informed you that another device was tracking you is, of course, already tracking your every move.

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#156

Post by weaksauce »

rocqua wrote: post #69
weaksauce wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rob house that's not the only possible outcome here

It is a much more likely and sensible (for the bad guy) outcome though. There are so many more people out there that want to rob someone than want to rape someone. Especially when the target is a stranger.

> much more likely and sensible (for the bad guy) outcome though.

I don't know. it could be but bad guys aren't exactly known for being sensible.

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#157

Post by kemayo »

matthew-wegner wrote: post #150
323 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> AirTags will also beep if they're separated from their owner. Why didn't the AirTag beep in this situation? She said she went around the car trying to find it.

They begin beeping at a random time between 8 and 24 hours after separation, not immediately. Probably it was still too soon?

It's a tricky timing to work out, I guess. You want to warn people about trackers near them, but you don't want someone e.g. leaving their tagged bag in their locker to cause loud beeping after 30 minutes.

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#158

Post by evgen »

MarkSweep wrote: post #149

On the Apple help site, it says you can disable an AirTag that is following you: > To disable the AirTag and stop sharing your location, tap Instructions to Disable AirTag and follow the onscreen steps. If I’m understanding this correctly, this means you can defeat this type of stalking easily. On the other hand, this makes AirTags less useful for tracking stolen items, as presumably the thief will disable it. https:…

Or if the thief has an iPhone they will be notified that the AirTag is tracking them. This is not an anti-theft device and anyone who thinks so will be disappointed. It is a device for finding your own stuff that you have misplaced or forgotten about.

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#159

Post by bittercynic »

newhotelowner wrote: post #51

Apple AirTag Linked to Increasing Number of Car Thefts, Canadian Police Report - https://nypost.com/2021/12/07/carjackers-are-using-this-new-...

Why does the thief bother to track your car back to your house to steal later? Why not just drive around the residential areas where the cars are parked and just choose one at the time you want to do the theft?

Re: Someone attached an AirTag to my car while I was in a bar

#160

Post by kemayo »

danesparza wrote: post #152
kemayo wrote: post #86

This is news just because it's an Apple device being used for something that was already trivially possible. GPS trackers designed to be magnet-attached to a car which report their location via cell signal cost ~$20 on Amazon. You then tend to need to pay for either a SIM card or a subscription to the device maker's service -- bringing you up to about the cost of an AirTag. These are much harder to detect, as you mig…

"GPS trackers designed to be magnet-attached to a car which report their location via cell signal cost ~$20 on Amazon. You then tend to need to pay for either a SIM card or a subscription to the device maker's service -- bringing you up to about the cost of an AirTag. These are much harder to detect, as you might imagine." Yes ... but Apple has built a mesh network to report the position of people who don't want to b…

> Yes ... but Apple has built a mesh network to report the position of people who don't want to be tracked ... and clearly are being tracked.

Sure, but you could say the same thing about the cell network. Same argument applies to the cell GPS trackers I mentioned.

> And it's very possible my own iphone is being used in the service of an evil actor.

You can turn if off if you want. `Settings > Apple ID > Find My > Find My iPhone` and uncheck `Find My network`. I do appreciate that the power of defaults means that you personally disabling it doesn't really do much to the overall situation, though.

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