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Apple's AirTag uncovers a secret German intelligence agency

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

#21

Post by olliej »

whoopdedo wrote: post #17
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 corner…

What's your worry about the static AirTag scenario?

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

#22

Post by waste_monk »

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.

As I understand it's just a Bluetooth Low Energy beacon, at least for the coarse-grain positioning.

I don't know of any portable devices that specifically hunt BLE (I understand Cisco CleanAir technology can monitor and report on BLE but that's for fixed wireless installations) but I would imagine a generic 2.4GHz RF detector would work, assuming there's not too much RF pollution nearby... drive out somewhere isolated and have a scan.

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

#23

Post by hypertele-Xii »

rmahan wrote: post #2

Interesting use case for an air tag. Say someone had a PO Box or mail forwarding service and you wanted to know where they live. Mail them an air tag!

There is no escape from the total information era. Everybody will know everything and the only thing anyone can do about it is learn to cope.

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

#24

Post by bravetraveler »

olliej wrote: post #21
whoopdedo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 corner…

What's your worry about the static AirTag scenario?

I'm not up to date on this stuff (or who you even asked), but I think that situation might be helpful for someone trying to figure out leaving/return patterns for a street/neighborhood

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

#25

Post by olliej »

bravetraveler wrote: post #24
olliej wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's your worry about the static AirTag scenario?

I'm not up to date on this stuff (or who you even asked), but I think that situation might be helpful for someone trying to figure out leaving/return patterns for a street/neighborhood

An AirTag doesn't help with that - you're basically looking at a bluetooth beacon. All apple's devices randomly rotate wifi+bluetooth MAC addresses in order to prevent that.

I have yet to understand how the stalker warning works :D

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