Live data from Hacker News

Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

gizmodo.com

201–210 of 404 posts

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

#201
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 hand…

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

As a member of my family account, his iPad does share its location. But only for 24 hours after the battery dies, at which point Apple will no longer show you were it was last found. And since it's only a WiFi iPad, it'll only report when attached to a network it knows about.

And even in perfect circumstances, it doesn't work worth a crap. My daughter 'lost' her iPad last night and asked me to beep it. So I did. "Find My" said "playing sound" for maybe 10 seconds and then just stopped, without any further notice. It told me it last saw the iPad two hours previously, so I told my daughter it may have run out of battery. She found it a couple minutes later in my wife's office. 80% battery. In our house, attached to our WiFi. She came up and played with it a while sitting behind me in my office. "Find My" still couldn't see it. This morning, about 10AM, while my daughter was in school and her iPad was sitting on the charger, it started beeping to be found. LMAO. Thanks Apple, for nothing.

They should put a rechargeable AirTag in the iPad somewhere. With all the usual features. Then I could tell you where my son's iPad is right now, and I could make it noisy, even though the battery died a few days ago and he doesn't know where it is. We think it might have gotten swiped by the neighbor kid, but we'll probably never find out since it's a game of eliminating possibilities, not positively finding the device. Since he didn't mention that it was missing until more than 24 hours after it was last seen, I can't even say for sure he lost it in our house somewhere. Such a misfeature.

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

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every iPhone (and Android and dumbphone) was coopted into a global surveillance network from the very beginning.

Previously, it didn't help random creeps to find home address of a girl he saw in a grocery store. Now, with AirTags it is rather trivial. Thanks, Apple.

So trivial it never happens.

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

#203

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 s…

Yup, can confirm. Had $20K++ worth of stuff stolen from my shop. Police were there only to take notes, file a report, and send me the report # for the insurance claim. the officer didn't even ask any interesting questions, and offered no hope when I suggested maybe they could check around come likely locations where it might be. He was just acting as a stenographer with a badge. I totally get that they are overwhelmed and have to prioritize.

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

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the threshold over which you believe crime is no longer okay? AirPods Max? Only $549. A MacBook? Only $2000. A car? Only $20000. Does someone have to burn my house down for it to be worthwhile for the police?

There are thresholds at which it becomes a felony, so that might be an answer to your question. Otherwise we have to ask it the other way as well -- should the police send out a detective if your 99 cent fidget spinner goes missing?

> There are thresholds at which it becomes a felony, so that might be an answer to your question.

Are you saying that police shouldn't bother investigating crimes that aren't felonies? Why even have misdemeanors at all then?

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

#207

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…

You just described every police department in the country.

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

#208

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…

But hey lets defund the police!

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

#209

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?

Your iPhone will notify you eventually. Or you can get a bluetooth signal tracking app and try and find it yourself.

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

#210

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 takes 10 seconds to create an Apple ID. How exactly can it be tied back to you?

Every GPS tracker on the market needs a monthly subscription and your credit card info.

Post reply on HN