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Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

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

#171

Post by jkestner »

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…

Lot of assertions without citations in this thread. HN can do better.

If you’ve never had something stolen before, let me flesh out your data point. The police almost never investigate theft of private property—if they do, it’s when there’s serial theft in an area. That’s anywhere in the US, in any year. They’re only there as a notary of sorts for your claim to the insurance company.

It’d be cool if police used the surveillance tech built into our products for our benefit, but that’s not how the world works. They’re not standing by for hot pursuit of your earbuds.

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

#172

Post by tssva »

jccooper wrote: post #96
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?

An iPhone will eventually notify you about a tag that is following you. You can get a "Tracker Detect" Android app that will do a similar thing. There's also plenty of apps that'll just tell you all the NFC devices in your vicinity.

Apple's "Tracker Detect" app for Android will not automatically notify you about a tag that is following you as an iPhone will. Tracker Detect only supports manual scans for tags.

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

#173

Post by stadium »

dheera wrote: post #92
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…

Same, I had $4K of camera equipment stolen in the Bay Area and police just closed the case. I wouldn't be surprised if the next 10 car smashings were the same crooks because the police department won't do its job. They keep letting the crooks go, and we wonder why there are so many thefts in SF these days. Well maybe don't let the crooks go! That said though I wonder if AirPods are having success in other countries w…

I once wired a cheap 120db siren to a 9v battery and a pressure switch with the default "on" position. Packed it in a plastic pint sized ice cream container with a hole drilled in the bottom for the switch. Packed that full of rocks for weight, with the switch pointed down towards the floor. Packed it all inside an Amazon box with a hole cutout for the switch.

Lift the box, and immediate piercing sound blast. For < $10 in parts off AliExpress. Unit price could be a couple bucks max at volume.

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

#174

Post by dylan604 »

smoldesu wrote: post #167
dylan604 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

at the same time, you are using the Apple network/infrastructure of iDevices that track that item for you. Every Apple device that passes your lost product helps find your product. Should they be doing that for free? Serious question.

Apple is free to charge whatever they want for the use of their servers and infrastructure, and while it's not a good look, they're also welcome to charge again for the use of their intellectual property. However, that's not a reason that third-parties shouldn't be able to access that data. If I've got a Google Pixel in my pocket, the cost is marginal for me to send an API request to Apple's servers and use Find My e…

Sounds like you're thinking about how the first pill costs $7 million to make, but pills 2-inf only cost $0.02. Sure, it doesn't cost anything to wiggle some electrons, but it took effort to build out the infrastructure to do something when those electrons move. It takes effort to maintain it as well.

I'm able to see both sides. We all like free things, but free things cost some body some thing some where. If the vendor/maker of a thing needs to pay a license to make it look free to the consumer, that doesn't seem egregious to me. After all, they'll just roll that into the price of the product.

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

#175

Post by mh- »

orhmeh09 wrote: post #161
dheera wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, I had $4K of camera equipment stolen in the Bay Area and police just closed the case. I wouldn't be surprised if the next 10 car smashings were the same crooks because the police department won't do its job. They keep letting the crooks go, and we wonder why there are so many thefts in SF these days. Well maybe don't let the crooks go! That said though I wonder if AirPods are having success in other countries w…

Be careful with creating traps — booby traps are illegal in most jurisdictions.

and ironically, this is definitely the sort of criminal act the DA would go after.

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

#176

Post by dfsegoat »

r00fus wrote: post #166
willcipriano wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a place for a generic open protocol. To have a real internet of things we need some kind of DNS but for objects.

You expect Apple do make an open protocol? This is the role of a government to mandate standards for their jurisdictions. Of course, regulation is a bad word for a good number of the electorate so this will never happen.

Genuinely curious:

What are other examples where specific protocols (open or not) are mandated by regulation ?

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

#177

Post by r00fus »

rootusrootus wrote: post #8

I guess I don't get it. For the price of an AirTag, you can buy a more capable tracker with GPS and mobile data. And it won't be notifying the trackee that it's there. The AirTag seems like a downgrade.

A downgrade for a stalker maybe. Honestly I use them and haven't had a single false positive ping.

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

#178

Post by andrewmunsell »

OnlineGladiator wrote: post #129
dheera wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, I had $4K of camera equipment stolen in the Bay Area and police just closed the case. I wouldn't be surprised if the next 10 car smashings were the same crooks because the police department won't do its job. They keep letting the crooks go, and we wonder why there are so many thefts in SF these days. Well maybe don't let the crooks go! That said though I wonder if AirPods are having success in other countries w…

> For the US I really wish we could commercialize some kind of tracker that releases fart spray, honey, flour, ink, glue, and other annoying substances if stolen. I assume you've seen this already, but just in case you haven't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c584TGG7jQ

Mark Rober's videos are always entertaining, but I wonder the legality of audio/video recording in supposedly an unaware person's house. I assume he has this figured out, but it also makes me wonder whether the "thieves" are actually plants.

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

#179

Post by aldebran »

xoa wrote: post #24
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…

I haven't experienced the same issues you describe in terms of random beeping or the like. But I do think one of the most curious and irritating missing pieces from AirTags is no sort of tie-in with Family Sharing or some sort of contacts whitelist. I saw one thing saying that was about privacy but that makes zero sense because Apple doesn't do the same thing elsewhere in "Find My" for people or devices. While it's c…

This is probably because of 1. You have Bluetooth on all the time 2. If BT is off, the tag isn’t moving at all (including drawer moving open shut)

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

#180

Post by duxup »

rootusrootus wrote: post #158
duxup wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and parents who only kinda want to track their kids bags ... mostly ... I guess.

Right about now I wish I had pasted one to my son's iPad. Of course, I wish the iPad just had that function built in so it wouldn't need a booger attached to the outside.

Well you can have the iPad share its location ... that's a thing.

How you do it depends on if your iPad is setup under a different apple ID or not (still can do it either way).

My father in law who is older and prone to wandering off, I put an airtag on him while on vacation temporarily when we were out and about, and set his phone to share his location to the whole family all the time just to be save. It's very handy that way.

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