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An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

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Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#121

Post by henryaj »

imroot wrote: post #115
josephcsible wrote: post #103

> New privacy warnings during AirTag setup: In an upcoming software update, every user setting up their AirTag for the first time will see a message that clearly states that AirTag is meant to track their own belongings, that using AirTag to track people without consent is a crime in many regions around the world, that AirTag is designed to be detected by victims, I expect that this will be about as effective as the…

I had someone in the law enforcement community reach out this week to ask if I knew of a way to determine an owner of an AirTag. I mentioned that they should be able to reach out to Apple to identify the owner, but, the serial number had been removed and wanted to know if there was a way to pull it from memory in a forensically safe way, as Apple required the serial number for these requests.

You can just hold the AirTag to an NFC-enabled phone and it'll open a webpage with the tag's details.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#122

Post by FalconSensei »

josephcsible wrote: post #103

> New privacy warnings during AirTag setup: In an upcoming software update, every user setting up their AirTag for the first time will see a message that clearly states that AirTag is meant to track their own belongings, that using AirTag to track people without consent is a crime in many regions around the world, that AirTag is designed to be detected by victims, I expect that this will be about as effective as the…

Honestly they should be required to offer an Android app that even though don't let you pair your own airtag, could notify you if someone is stalking you.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#123

Post by URSpider94 »

physhster wrote: post #116

The anti-stalker virtue signaling from Apple basically kills any chances of finding stolen belongings. AirTags only work for finding misplaced stuff, not stolen stuff because they will alert the thieves before you get a chance of recovery. This was never an issue with Tile.

Tile never gained enough market traction for it to be an issue. No use using a system to track your stolen goods that can't provide you with a location because there's no phone running the Tile app within hailing distance.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#124

Post by tshaddox »

paxys wrote: post #113
jackson1442 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should all GPS trackers be banned then? The problem with AirTags is they're accessible; these problems have always existed with any kind of GPS tracking.

Serious question – which commercially available GPS tracker can be used for this purpose? I have been looking for one for years ( not for stalking, I promise) and absolutely nothing fits the bill. They are all large (impossible to slip into, say, a purse), expensive, have minimum $20/mo subscriptions (with credit card registration), require you to register a SIM card, and have a battery life measured in days. Now you…

They tend to be larger and more expensive, because they generally need to contain a GPS receiver to know their location and a cell phone transmitter and data plan to transmit that location.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#125

Post by chroma »

todd8 wrote: post #48

I like the functionality of the AirTags so I don't want them nerfed, but I can think of no way to fix their fundamental problem of being such easy to use stalking devices. Chefs knives are great for cooking and are inexpensive and easy to purchase; they can be very dangerous weapons in the wrong hands so we make it against the law to use them in that manner. Maybe that's the best we can do with AirTags.

> Chefs knives are great for cooking and are inexpensive and easy to purchase; they can be very dangerous weapons in the wrong hands so we make it against the law to use them in that manner.

What? I've lived in several western countries and I've never had a knife purchase that was tracked or controlled in some way.

There's only one place I know of that controls ownership of chef's knives: the Xinjiang region of China.[1]

1. https://twitter.com/joshchin/status/943159015994880000

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#126

Post by Rayhem »

Closi wrote: post #110
josephcsible wrote: post #103

> New privacy warnings during AirTag setup: In an upcoming software update, every user setting up their AirTag for the first time will see a message that clearly states that AirTag is meant to track their own belongings, that using AirTag to track people without consent is a crime in many regions around the world, that AirTag is designed to be detected by victims, I expect that this will be about as effective as the…

> How convenient. Now you need a modern, expensive Apple product to protect yourself from stalkers. To be honest, this is more about technical capability than an intentional lock-out. If older phones simply don't have the hardware to do precision finding, what would you propose Apple does? No precision finding for anyone?

Design products so this isn't a problem in the first place.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#127

Post by tshaddox »

warning26 wrote: post #93

Hot take: There is no conceivable way to make Airtags safe, and they should be banned entirely. The problem is that by leveraging Apple devices to get worldwide geolocation and data service effectively for free, they make tracking trivially easy in a way that no other entity could.

Regardless of how convincing you can be that banning them would be a good idea, under what legal framework could they conceivably be banned (at least in the United States)? You can literally buy guns just as easily in many places in the United States (granted, guns are more expensive). Maybe the FCC could make try to argue that they have the authority?

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#128

Post by tshaddox »

babypuncher wrote: post #99
warning26 wrote: post #93

Hot take: There is no conceivable way to make Airtags safe, and they should be banned entirely. The problem is that by leveraging Apple devices to get worldwide geolocation and data service effectively for free, they make tracking trivially easy in a way that no other entity could.

I don't see how you can ban AirTags without also banning products like Tile

Presumably any new ban would also cover Tile.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#129

Post by heavenlyblue »

concinds wrote: post #119

Android users are still vulnerable, and these announcements do nothing to reduce that. All a stalker needs to do, is remove the speaker. To detect a rogue AirTag, an Android owner needs to: 1) know AirTags exist (many obviously don't) 2) go out of their way to install Apple's Android AirTag scanner app (only 100k-500k worldwide have done so according to Google Play stats) 3) manually open the scanner app and scan, si…

Police in the UK does not follow up on requests to retrieve iPhones from FindMyPhone because the GPS tracking isn't exact enough to find the correct appartment.

So for stolen items, it is also useless.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#130

Post by missedthecue »

chroma wrote: post #125
todd8 wrote: post #48

I like the functionality of the AirTags so I don't want them nerfed, but I can think of no way to fix their fundamental problem of being such easy to use stalking devices. Chefs knives are great for cooking and are inexpensive and easy to purchase; they can be very dangerous weapons in the wrong hands so we make it against the law to use them in that manner. Maybe that's the best we can do with AirTags.

> Chefs knives are great for cooking and are inexpensive and easy to purchase; they can be very dangerous weapons in the wrong hands so we make it against the law to use them in that manner. What? I've lived in several western countries and I've never had a knife purchase that was tracked or controlled in some way. There's only one place I know of that controls ownership of chef's knives: the Xinjiang region of China…

I believe he's saying that stabbing someone is illegal
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