341–350 of 404 posts
I've got a tag on my bike and it's pretty dumb that it starts beeping at the thief if it ever gets stolen. Why do we have to gimp everything to make it difficult to use them to break the law? Isn't enforcement of laws how we're supposed to make people not break the law?
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You think the reason that every house in the world isn't emptied out daily is because of the threat of violent reactions by others? You do realize there are loads of places in the world where people don't even lock their doors? And it's not cuz police are all over the place in those areas. Perhaps material conditions are driving crime in many places...
> You do realize there are loads of places in the world where people don't even lock their doors In a place with no daily crime, EVERY crime is investigated thoroughly, and the perpetrator brought to justice with all the resources of the (very bored) local police. Think of the small town where no crime of note ever happens, and suddenly someone's house is robbed. Do you think the residents just shrug it off? Of cours…
There are different dynamics in small communities on account of everyone knowing each other, etc. But it's not because there are expert detectives looking through all the clues to recover your stolen Macbook or some smashed window.
Hell, loads of times small town dynamics mean people "know" who it is, and still nothing happens! Because crime and punishment isn't some sort of kanban board with a list of crimes and tickets not going closed until a perpetrator is in front of a judge.
I've got a tag on my bike and it's pretty dumb that it starts beeping at the thief if it ever gets stolen. Why do we have to gimp everything to make it difficult to use them to break the law? Isn't enforcement of laws how we're supposed to make people not break the law?
The problem is that without the beep, these devices are no different than your standard GPS tracker that you could use to track someone without their consent. So it beeps so indemnify Apple from that use case. And for good reason. These devices are already getting popular with abusive spouses. It's worth planning for the worst case scenarios for these things, because they are real.
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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.
A former acquaintance got caught cheating when her kid's iPad showed a FaceTime call from her side guy, and the husband saw it ringing... Lots of problems like this.
Or you can load your own firmware to any other embedded device with Bluetooth and also make it totally undetectable from iPhones by changing keys frequently and making it appear like multiple different AirTags. https://github.com/seemoo-lab/openhaystack/
I think the cat was out of the bag in a way on this one. Apple put in a good effort to stop abuse but the technology is in people hands now.
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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 App…
Yes. >Apple may be able to provide the paired account details in response to a subpoena or greater legal process Source of them actually doing this?
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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.
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…
Based on what they told me they sent two deputies to the house and politely (yet firmly) “requested” the phone back. It actually went exactly the way you would expect - we have probable cause to search the entire house for grand theft. Just give it back.
I went to the Sherrifs department an hour later and picked it up.
Good use of resources? Probably not. Faith in public servants for me? Absolutely. Hopefully a scary lesson learned for an offender or two on a path of criminality? I hope so.
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They could NOT sell the tech. It's a choice.
It's already being sold by other companies. The cat has been out of the bag for years, you're just being notified. Don't attack the messenger.
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> simple misunderstandings, like someone accidentally dropping one somewhere. The uniquity of technology gives real stalkers this nice excuse. How convenient!
Very convenient. So much so that there must be one story of someone actually being attacked rather than just finding an AirTag, right?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/17272409/how-stay-safe-apple-a...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/20/apple-air...
How many stalking victims never found out they are tracked because they used Android phones? How many perpetrators just covertly removed the AirTag after the attack? This device allows very clandestine surveillance by anyone.