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Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

gizmodo.com

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Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#101

Post by andrepew »

nomel wrote: post #40
andrepew wrote: post #6

Not hard for a non-technical person to remove the speaker. Housing pops right open with a small flathead screwdriver. Then you just remove the speaker's magnet, no desoldering or anything like that required. Took 5 minutes. I did it to one of mine to use it to track my bicycle if it ever gets stolen.

If the thief has an iPhone, they'll still be alerted that the tracker is following them. If they move their phone around on your bike, they'll be able to find it, within several inches, with the NFC identification feature that gives the last four digits of the owners phone number. Maybe Apple's campaign is working: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/26/apple-doe...

I'm banking on a bike theft being a crime of opportunity and not necessarily being done by someone who has thought things through completely.

But against a professional thief an AirTag probably won't do much.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#102

Post by filoleg »

post_break wrote: post #4

Taping them together tightly silences it. Airtags have to be the most nerfed product I've bought. Day one, they were fantastic. Then they lowered the beeping and rogue alerts to a threshold my wife gets them from my keys or wallet all the time. Then they just beep randomly. I regret buying them to be honest. Tile never really got harped on for stalking. The samsung trackers work just as well as Apple and don't have a…

For me personally, I had to stop using my airtag (a singular one), because I notice that my phone has started draining battery much quicker than it was supposed to, for weeks on end. I checked the battery management page, and it turns out that the airtag functionality was draining most of it (despite my airtag being always near me, pretty much). Neither software updates nor disconnecting and re-pairing the airtag from scratch helped. Once I completely disconnected the airtag, the battery issue went completely away.

I realize that this might not be a common experience and that it could be just some particular quirk about how it works with my phone specifically. But I gave up after that.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#103

Post by rootusrootus »

duxup wrote: post #60

Not a big surprise. I can buy a lot of things and modify it to do bad things. AirTag is an interesting choice as if you want to REALLY track someone I think an AirTag is a wonky choice. Very much a cheap-o 'best effort' kind of tracking.

I think AirTags are only the right choice for casual stalkers who haven't really thought their plan all the way through. Anybody who is properly motivated will easily find better options.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#104

Post by BiteCode_dev »

rolobio wrote: post #82
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I attached an AirTag to an electric scooter, which I ended up returning. I forgot to remove the AirTag; I've been able to track the scooter over hundreds of miles with quick updates (even driving down a freeway). I've been having a fun time checking in on the scooter for months now. That story alone is horrifying and a reason by itself this thing should be illegal. Also, what you are doing is not ok.

Should I drive over a thousand miles to pull it off? What do you expect me to do? I'm not sure what will happen if I disown it, it will probably attempt to be owned by whoever walks by? Can I disown an AirTag without being near it? And if someone who works for Fedex suddenly owns the AirTag, has the situation improved? I really don't know what you expect me to do. I did this by accident. I thought it was funny.

No post body was provided.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#105

Post by rich_sasha »

babyshake wrote: post #47

If I wanted to make sure I knew about an AirTag attached to my vehicle, for example, is there something I can do or something I can put in the vehicle to detect it?

iPhones warn you if they think there is a “stalker” air tag, and you can get an app for Android.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#106

Post by tharne »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #71

Anecdotal regional issue: I had an AirTag on my AirPod Pro's case that was stolen. I immediately notified Austin's police (APD) as I could see where it was going. Unfortunately, due to understaffing of 100-200 police officers and detectives, most calls unrelated to imminent threats of injury or death aren't being handle for days or ever. So, it's open-season on packages and property because APD can't or won't do its…

No post body was provided.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#107

Post by everdrive »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #71

Anecdotal regional issue: I had an AirTag on my AirPod Pro's case that was stolen. I immediately notified Austin's police (APD) as I could see where it was going. Unfortunately, due to understaffing of 100-200 police officers and detectives, most calls unrelated to imminent threats of injury or death aren't being handle for days or ever. So, it's open-season on packages and property because APD can't or won't do its…

No post body was provided.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#108

Post by rich_sasha »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #84

Anyone who would use these to stalk someone is an idiot. They’re tied to your Apple ID. It’s not at all anonymous. Apple warns people about the abuse. There’s a million GPS trackers for sale online that are near anonymous. The AirTag is a horrible device used to stalk people.

It’s perfect for stupid people, and there’s enough of them...

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#110

Post by jen20 »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #71

Anecdotal regional issue: I had an AirTag on my AirPod Pro's case that was stolen. I immediately notified Austin's police (APD) as I could see where it was going. Unfortunately, due to understaffing of 100-200 police officers and detectives, most calls unrelated to imminent threats of injury or death aren't being handle for days or ever. So, it's open-season on packages and property because APD can't or won't do its…

> I met a UT campus police officer who refuses to live in or bring his family to ATX because of the risks and de facto lawlessness.

I live in Downtown Austin, and this kind of picture simply does not fit with my day-to-day experience of Austin.

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