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Apple's AirTag uncovers a secret German intelligence agency

appleinsider.com

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Re: Apple's AirTag uncovers a secret German intelligence agency

#12

Post by ilogik »

t_h_r_o_w_away wrote: post #7

Is there a way to scan my immediate area for an AirTag? I would buy a device I could plug in to my car's USB that would alert me if an AirTag was near.

if you have an Android device, Apple created an Android app for this:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apple.trac...

Re: Apple's AirTag uncovers a secret German intelligence agency

#13

Post by Maursault »

The problem with AirTag and similar is that it's sole purpose is to provide an extremely minor convenience at the expense of allowing anyone at all to expose anything and everything its technology possibly can expose. It puts advanced location tracking in the hands of the consumer-at-large, a technology that no one needs nor realized they wanted until made to want. By and large, it allows people to choose to be dumber, at least that was its purpose before someone discovered they could use it to expose clandestine operations. Bear in mind, spies are people, too, and we only ever hear about terrible spies.

Re: Apple's AirTag uncovers a secret German intelligence agency

#14

Post by rjmunro »

acheron wrote: post #11
t_h_r_o_w_away wrote: post #7

Is there a way to scan my immediate area for an AirTag? I would buy a device I could plug in to my car's USB that would alert me if an AirTag was near.

Yes. It's called an iPhone.

Can an iPhone detect other people's AirTags? What about an iPad? How do I do that?

Re: Apple's AirTag uncovers a secret German intelligence agency

#15

Post by throwaway894345 »

rjmunro wrote: post #14
acheron wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It's called an iPhone.

Can an iPhone detect other people's AirTags? What about an iPad? How do I do that?

I'm not the OP nor am I sure about the specific answer to your question, but an iPhone will alert you if there's an airtag that's following you around which doesn't belong to you. In other words, if someone is tracking you it will alert you. There is also an app for Android that does the same.

Re: Apple's AirTag uncovers a secret German intelligence agency

#17

Post by whoopdedo »

throwawayciv651 wrote: post #6

Sweet Apple didn't bother to create a real time Airtag tracking android app. They have one, but it's manual so it's useless. Thankfully, The Secure Mobile Networking Lab (SEEMOO)of the Computer Science Department of Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany has created an app for it. It's FOSS and available on Google Play and Fdroid. https://github.com/seemoo-lab/AirGuard https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…

> If a tracker is detected at least 3 times and the locations have changed (to make sure its not your neighbour) the app sends you a notification.

I'd like for it to report the stationary trackers as well. A ping from my neighbour is one thing, even a ping from a grocery store. But if I saw a repeated ping from an unremarkable street corner, I'm going to be suspicious. Even more so if there are multiple street corners.

I like this though,

> Version 1.0.6 - This version requires Android 8.0 or newer.

> Version 1.1.1 - This version requires Android 5.0 or newer.

:thumbsup:

Re: Apple's AirTag uncovers a secret German intelligence agency

#19

Post by raxxorrax »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #15
rjmunro wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can an iPhone detect other people's AirTags? What about an iPad? How do I do that?

I'm not the OP nor am I sure about the specific answer to your question, but an iPhone will alert you if there's an airtag that's following you around which doesn't belong to you. In other words, if someone is tracking you it will alert you. There is also an app for Android that does the same.

So Apple has a tool against stalking caused by their own products. Reports of abuse are rising though. Technically trackers are illegal in Germany, but the law and legislation acts slowly.
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