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I gave my partner an airtag as a test to see how accurate it was. After three days of daily driving around going to work errands etc, they received no warning whatsoever but I could still track. Don't know why, but it scared both of us.
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Apple opened? Weren't these trackers popular long before that, e.g. tile?
Apple integrates it into their network of phones, such that they can reliably track someone everywhere they go. I don't think other market players are capable of that.
Which is why Tile is much better in dense areas than it used to be.
It's insane to me that technology that is very likely used for stalkerware or other dystopian purposes, like AirTags, Google Homes, Alexas, Ring Cameras, Boston Dynamics Spot and related models, and the like, have been embraced unquestioningly by the vast majority of people because of flimsy weak reasons of "convenience" or whatever. Maybe I've just been in our industry for too long....
Spare me the "embraced unquestioningly by the vast majority of people because of flimsy weak reasons" There were hundreds of engineers at Apple that worked on AirTags. Not a single one of them stood up and said "No". Not a single one of them went to the press and screamed about it before the launch. Not a single one said that Cook and his high up lackeys and their wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, whoever the…
* accurate - to a few feet over arbitrary distance
* private - no one other than the owner can track it
* anti-stalker - despite the privacy it’s possible to know when you’re being stalked
AirTags are useful, there was a market of similar, less private, devices before hand. And unlike the existing non-private solutions this one does actually warn people if they’re being stalked.
If you think that’s “engineers not caring about misuse” I don’t know what to say?
It's insane to me that technology that is very likely used for stalkerware or other dystopian purposes, like AirTags, Google Homes, Alexas, Ring Cameras, Boston Dynamics Spot and related models, and the like, have been embraced unquestioningly by the vast majority of people because of flimsy weak reasons of "convenience" or whatever. Maybe I've just been in our industry for too long....
I wonder how much of this problem is of Apple’s own making. As far as I know AirTag competitors, find my phone, etc never included these “anti-stalking” features. Hell, if you have an Android Google has probably tricked you into letting them stalk you by the hour for years. Yet Apple makes it really easy to tell if there’s an AirTag close by and now anyone with that notification thinks they’re the hapless victim in a…
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> can't be shared between Apple IDs. Even with Apple family? In Find My app, my partner and I can see all of each others' devices.
We can see each others devices, but not each others "Items" which AirTags are categorized under.
I wonder how much of this problem is of Apple’s own making. As far as I know AirTag competitors, find my phone, etc never included these “anti-stalking” features. Hell, if you have an Android Google has probably tricked you into letting them stalk you by the hour for years. Yet Apple makes it really easy to tell if there’s an AirTag close by and now anyone with that notification thinks they’re the hapless victim in a…
Because the cost and ease of use means that even the most hapless DV offender can reach hitherto unrealisable levels of accuracy. While an AirTag isn't going to beat 'lumping' your missus' car, the level of entry to this sort of stalking behaviour has suddenly plummeted with their introduction.
What's craziest about this outrage to me is, if the anti-stalking feature weren't there, the most an average Joe would be able to use this for is to collect a fraction of the data about you that tech companies already collect. You're yelling at your fellow peasants because you suspect they're stealing meanwhile the King is openly pilfering everything.
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Because the cost and ease of use means that even the most hapless DV offender can reach hitherto unrealisable levels of accuracy. While an AirTag isn't going to beat 'lumping' your missus' car, the level of entry to this sort of stalking behaviour has suddenly plummeted with their introduction.
The fact that these things beep and notify you make it just about impossible to use to track someone's movements without their knowledge, which isn't true with prior location tracking. Anybody using this nefariously would choose a device that doesn't make such tracking impossible. What's craziest about this outrage to me is, if the anti-stalking feature weren't there, the most an average Joe would be able to use this…
That's a deliberate design feature which actually removes some of the utility as a covert device to keep hold of your own stuff.
I’m stalking my whole family - with daily warnings to everyone - because apparently Apple hasn’t realized it can be useful to have keys shared within a family. We do all have iPhones connected to the same family account. This is a glaring omission.
If you're in the same family account there's a button to turn off those alerts. It worked for my family.
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Is the beeping not enough? I understand you don’t get a phone notification but it would be obvious as long as you’re near the tag.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to remove the beeper from the device, or disable it somehow.