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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

#281

Post by WheatM »

kube-system wrote: post #17
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 love my AirTags because they actually have a functional tracking network. I've lost items outside the house with a Tile tracker attached and it proved to be entirely worthless for actually finding my stuff. They simply don't have a good network.

No post body was provided.

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

#282

Post by jdminhbg »

wang_li wrote: post #274
jdminhbg wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So trivial it never happens.

It was all over the tech news space back in November that a woman was alerted to one that was moving with her. Someone attached it to her car. And again in January. https://www.wbrc.com/2021/11/18/woman-discovers-tracking-dev... https://www.insideedition.com/atlanta-woman-cant-find-apple-...

You'll note that there's never ever a culprit in a single one of these stories, and nobody ever successfully carries out the crime by actually showing up to an apartment or cornering someone in their car. It's classic urban legend stuff.

Would you expect people to sometimes get away with committing a crime like stalking? Yes. Would you expect every single person who commits stalking in this way to always, without exception, get away with it? Of course not. The parsimonious explanation is that the vast majority of these stories are simple misunderstandings, like someone accidentally dropping one somewhere.

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

#283

Post by riversflow »

myself248 wrote: post #147
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…

Tile didn't work well enough for stalking. I bought some Tiles and Trackrs and gave them to friends who agreed to help me test their usefulness, pretending that they had "stolen" these items from me. I would see if I could locate them a few days later when I "noticed them missing". I got one ping from a Tile once when the friend had apparently stopped for gas, but none from their house. And zero at all from the Track…

> Apple has built a find-me network that actually works. Therefore it also works for stalking. Therefore Apple is getting the criticism.

Isn’t this criticism a bit like arguing that binoculars/telescopes are bad because they allow people to peep into other peoples windows or cars deserve criticism because they allow you to tail someone(or run from authorities)?

Tools can basically always be misused.

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

#284

Post by mehphp »

holistio wrote: post #165
thebean11 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ATX has the security measures of a third-world country That's a pretty dramatic way to describe police not wanting to spend resources to get your $200 headphones back..

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?

It's a matter of resources. They literally do not have the time to track down every single theft. Therefore, they have to triage.

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

#285

Post by WheatM »

privacyking wrote: post #242
rootusrootus wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And there aren't any AirTags with the ability to track without notifying the target they are there. Trade-offs. The point is valid, though. AirTags do not enable something which wasn't already trivial to accomplish. At best it just makes it more visible to the general public, but stalkers have known how to use inexpensive GPS trackers for many years. What's dishonest is the media pretending that this is some new capa…

It only notifies the target if they own a iPhone, or have downloaded an app specifically to do this.

No post body was provided.

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

#286

Post by austhrow743 »

riversflow wrote: post #283
myself248 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tile didn't work well enough for stalking. I bought some Tiles and Trackrs and gave them to friends who agreed to help me test their usefulness, pretending that they had "stolen" these items from me. I would see if I could locate them a few days later when I "noticed them missing". I got one ping from a Tile once when the friend had apparently stopped for gas, but none from their house. And zero at all from the Track…

> Apple has built a find-me network that actually works. Therefore it also works for stalking. Therefore Apple is getting the criticism. Isn’t this criticism a bit like arguing that binoculars/telescopes are bad because they allow people to peep into other peoples windows or cars deserve criticism because they allow you to tail someone(or run from authorities)? Tools can basically always be misused.

Yes it is exactly like that.

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

#287

Post by gumby »

mattdeboard wrote: post #246
Androider wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using a shared iPad with a family is a bad experience with all kinds of Apple account issues. Other apps Netflix/Amazon/etc. thankfully provide quick user switching which makes it tolerable.

that's how they get you into buying multiple ipads

A common, shallow, cynical take…no, wait, never mind: it’s correct!

OS X has always supported multiple user accounts and I can’t see that ever changing.

The I-devices on the other hand are explicitly positioned as personal devices. And I don’t really see that changing either.

Nowadays the price of macs has dropped to the point where some of the iPads and phones (!) are more expensive than the cheapest (and perfectly capable) macs (I do my development on a baseline MacBook Air because it’s so conveniently light). So they are still selling (relatively) low cost, multiuser machines.

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

#288

Post by ohyeshedid »

dylan604 wrote: post #228
ohyeshedid wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't saying they should; and I'm not taking a side on anything. I don't have enough information to properly answer you. Are there third party tracking device manufacturers with free access to these systems? Are you talking about stolen or bootleg goods? The latter is a much more complicated topic, for sure.

The question as asked seems pretty clear to me. If Company A builds a product/service, why should Company B be expected to utilize Company A's work without compensation? What more information do you need?

The questions, as asked, are lacking in tangible reality dynamics and are phrased with bias.

My first response to the first version of that loaded question: "_I wasn't saying they should_..."

You respond with: "If Company A builds a product/service, why should Company B be expected to utilize Company A's work without compensation?"

Am I to believe you're being genuine here? Should I really repeat myself again, in text, to save you a scroll up?

I didn't say that. I never implied that. I stated the exact opposite.

Why are you asking me to rationalize and explain a stance I've never taken, and don't have?

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

#289

Post by silisili »

TameAntelope wrote: post #272
butwhywhyoh wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solved by insurance? We should normalize the idea of theft because some large entity will replace our goods whenever they are stolen? This seems like it sets up an incentive to steal, since "don't worry, it will be replaced for them by insurance anyways". Not to mention the emotional factor isn't the only factor by far. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to have my car available to me on demand, rather than have…

Yes, we should normalize not reacting violently to theft because items can be replaced by insurance. Theft is not a problem at the volume you're suggesting it is a problem. Most people don't have most of their things stolen most of the time, and AirTags have absolutely nothing to do with addressing the threat of theft. And yes, it absolutely has to do with your emotions; everything has to do with emotions, the entire…

There's a lot to unpack in this back and forth.

Violent reactions are really the only deterrent left to keep thieves at bay. If everyone was so laissez faire about it, well, I'd eventually expect my house to be emptied daily, and my insurance to cost about $30k a month.

I get your point that theft isn't currently -that bad-, but realize that using that info to justify thievery just keeps compounding the problem.

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

#290

Post by blitzar »

endisneigh wrote: post #280
blitzar wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A law enforcement request to apple should tell you everything you need to know and more about the owner of an airtag.

Source of Apple giving out AirTag info?

Source: Apple.

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/law-enforcement-guidelin...

For government and law enforcement information requests, Apple complies with the laws pertaining to global entities that control our data and we provide details as legally required.

L. AirTag and Find My Network Accessory Program

To add AirTag or supported third-party products to the Items tab in the Find My app, customers must have an Apple ID, be signed into their iCloud account with Find My enabled, and register their AirTag or supported third-party products to their Apple ID.

With a serial number, Apple may be able to provide the paired account details in response to a subpoena or greater legal process.

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