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An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

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171–180 of 508 posts

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#171
It was a bit strange that they ever sent "unknown accessory detected" messages. They should say it's airpods.

It was also strange that they told people by notification that an airtag was with them, but didn't let them search for it using precision finding. Why would they do that?

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. "If a Find My network accessory that's separated from its owner is seen moving with you over time, this alert is displayed" https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227

Oh so this is really only useful for tracking stolen items if whoever steals it doesn't have an iPhone or an Android with their app on it, I never realized that.

The AirTags are explicitly designed to track lost items, not stolen items.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#173

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…

Maybe you don't lose stuff as much as other people? My brother was always complaining about losing his wallet, his keys, anything you can think of. I got him a tile, but their product wasn't very accurate. Got him airtags and the problem is solved. Not only are air tags useful, but I'm sure that there are people who would be willing to switch to iOS solely to get access to airtags. That seems pretty valuable to apple…

> Maybe you don't lose stuff as much as other people?

I relate to it and respect it, but it's doubtful anyone would switch to iPhone because of AirTags. Samsung and others also make trackers, and you don't need the Find My network if you lost your keys inside your house, any tracker will do.

> Not only are air tags useful, but I'm sure that there are people who would be willing to switch to iOS surely to get access to airtags.

After a Google search, I can't find a single anecdote of this from reddit or elsewhere. I doubt it's even a blip on Apple's balance sheet.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#174

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…

> I remember seeing a chills-down-your-spine Apple Watch Series 7 TV ad, that featured beautiful remote nature landscapes, with the audio of 911 calls made from people's Apple Watches whose lives were saved by their Watch. Probably one of Apple's best and most impactful ad in the past decade.

One could argue it's pretty distasteful to try to cash in on people's fears.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#175

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…

>>and significantly increases the average person's risk of stalking. I mean, increase from 0.00001% to 0.0001% is still significant and yet I still wouldn't worry about it in the slightest.

You personally may not have to worry about it, but a handful of well publicized cases of misuse (say someone getting stalked/murdered) will probably be a bigger monetary hit to Apple than their profit from this entire line.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#176

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.

This is partially correct but depends on presentation - I tracked a phone to a house, they said they couldn't help because it wasn't accurate enough, I said I was going to knock on the door and demand it back, they turned up in ~3 minutes and recovered it for me, arresting the person who had it at the same time. Because I presented it as "I am going to put myself in danger to recover this item" they were duty bound to act. Still didn't help much as it was held as evidence for literally months.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#177
post #92

"It’s why the Find My network is built with privacy in mind, uses end-to-end encryption..." "Apple can provide the paired account details in response to a subpoena or valid request from law enforcement" Hmm

Both can be true. The actual pairing of tag to owner is encrypted in the communication of its whereabouts. Some stranger detecting an AirTag that you own is not able to determine that you own it. But also Apple can pair the serial number of the physical tag with the account that registered it. I think this requires the actual tag to be retrieved. The serial number isn't transmitted in the clear; it's gotta be read of…

The serial number, and last four digits of the owners phone number, is available to anyone that is within NFC range of the AirTag.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#178

Are airtags still useful for eg. tracking a stolen bike? Or will it now alert the thief within minutes that the bike contains a tracker?

Airtags were never supposed to be used to track stolen things, but to retrieve lost things. People complaining about airtags being nerfed were misusing them in the first place

Surely you can see how that would be a poor design choice. It's quite a common use case for tracking devices like the AirTag.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#179
post #174

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…

> I remember seeing a chills-down-your-spine Apple Watch Series 7 TV ad, that featured beautiful remote nature landscapes, with the audio of 911 calls made from people's Apple Watches whose lives were saved by their Watch. Probably one of Apple's best and most impactful ad in the past decade. One could argue it's pretty distasteful to try to cash in on people's fears.

Well, that is one of the pillars of advertising these days.

Survival food? Fear.

Antivirus software? Fear.

Expensive Organic Cat Food? Fear (of the inorganic cheap food).

LifeLock? Fear.

Insurance of any kind? Fear.

Solar panels for off-grid? Fear (of the grid going down).

Your cousin's extensive gun collection? Fear (if things get bad).

And so on...

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#180
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh so this is really only useful for tracking stolen items if whoever steals it doesn't have an iPhone or an Android with their app on it, I never realized that.

The AirTags are explicitly designed to track lost items, not stolen items.

Can probably track the iPhone that the AirTag notified. If apple and law enforcement (private?) want to…
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