Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

291–300 of 508 posts

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#291

Post by foolfoolz »

x0x0 wrote: post #244
foolfoolz wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this would violate privacy laws like gdpr

Why and how? I'm quite familiar with gdpr, btw -- and I don't see how being able to look up a uuid or some other nonsequential identifier via a site to find the owner obviously violates it. There's a strong legitimate interest case for anyone in possession of a global tracking tag being able to find out the owner, I would think.

the problem is an api that returns someone’s pii without authenticating they are allowed to see it.

a uuid on its own is not a problem. but if you can take one and establish a link pii then the uuid becomes a pii risk.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#292

Post by celsoazevedo »

cyral wrote: post #8
seltzered_ wrote: post #5

"We plan to update our unwanted tracking alert system to notify users earlier that an unknown AirTag or Find My network accessory may be traveling with them." How does this work if one doesn't own an iPhone?

There is an Android app which allows Android users to see the same notifications.

Funnily enough, the app that works like iPhones (AirGuard, open source) was created by people from a German university.

Apple's own app is almost useless as it only works if the user performs manual scans... but who does that?

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#293

Post by incongruity »

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…

> That leaves "finding your keys within your home" as the only truly "officially supported" use case.

That is hardly true. Case in point - my wife put down her keys at a store and managed to leave without noticing (this was early after AirTags hit the market). I was driving and we left without recognizing that a few hundred dollars of keys had been lost.

Later that day, we noticed. She called a few stores all said there were no keys found. We then tracked the AirTag - and in fact, it was at the store. We returned and were able to locate it, at one of the registers in a lost and found. We never would have found that it not for the AirTag.

Since then, we’ve used them to not leave things behind, to find things lost at home and elsewhere. There are indeed many legitimate uses despite your want to claim otherwise.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#294

Post by rootusrootus »

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #256
rootusrootus wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to see AirTags built into all mobile Apple devices. iPhone, iPad, remotes. With it's own rechargeable battery, it would be really useful when my silly kid forgets where he left his iPad.

The find my network is supposed to be that already - Apple devices even ping when turned off. Try opening “find my” and clicking devices. If you all share a family account, their iPad should display its location.

It only lasts as long as the battery does, plus 24 hours (as in, the location will be visible for 24 hours but won't update after the battery is dead; after 24 hours Apple hides the last known location).

Even then, it is unreliable. The last time my son misplaced his iPad (a week ago), after I put it back on the charger it didn't start beeping (I had told it to make a sound via Find My) until about 12 hours after it was turned back on. Simultaneously I got the notification that it had been found. Not too impressive, IMO.

An AirTag, though, would have its own rechargeable battery and would be able to locate the iPad for a year after it got lost. In my ideal implementation it would work just like a regular AirTag, the only difference being a circuit to keep the battery charged, and being embedded inside the case of the iPad.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#295

Post by Lamad123 »

hunterb123 wrote: post #264
burlesona wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. Not disagreeing with or commenting on that policy at all, but I had no idea knives were treated so seriously in the UK (and presumably elsewhere). Meanwhile in much of the US, not only can you can openly carry a gun around, you don’t even need a permit. Just wow. The world is vast and strange.

The Brits don't have a 2A. We have it because of the Brits. Life isn't that strange if you follow it back. They have knife bans because they never let their citizens have guns, so there are knife attacks, so they ban knives. That's why terrorists when they can't sneak AK47s in, rely on vans to run people over, that's why there are bollards everywhere. Chemical attacks, axes and such can also be used to kill or harm p…

It would attract too much attention carrying an axe around for no reason and Dilbert Grady's family massacre might be the largest ever where only an axe was used and using the axe was mostly for theatrical effect. with a gun, an 8-year-old can probably easily murder a dozen adults. I am not for gun banning anywhere but I don't like likening guns to knives or sticks or stones. It seems no different from likening riding an aircrafts to walking on one's legs.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#296

Post by dann0 »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #170
concinds wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But Apple apparently has done it with anti-stalking features but is too high-profile. Remember that stalking isn't a profession; it's often a crime of opportunity, with plenty of reported cases of e.g. people slipping GPS trackers into spouses' cars/bags before or during divorces. Those people aren't sophisticated, and might go on Amazon and see Tiles that won't work (sparse detection network), or GPS trackers that…

> Those people aren't sophisticated It is foolish to underestimate stalkers and stereotype it as just a crime of opportunity. > "problem is that AirTags still, to this day, present a major Android stalking risk" Ironically, so did Tile for the last 8 years, and Samsung's own Galaxy trackers for Android, but there is no outcry about them. Also, considering how long Tile has been on the market, this doesn't seem like a…

You’re right.

It’s so frustrating to see this kind of thoughtless Apple criticism based on brand only when they so many things that are actually bad.

AirTags are better in nearly every way to the competition. They have considered design factors, like privacy, that no one else has. Yet, they are the bad guys that should never have released this product.

Apple should be releasing products like this. They offer significant improvements over their competitors because they consider more than pure profit seeking. AirTags without privacy protection is the same as everything else available, is cheaper to make and easier to design.

I like Apple pushing the bar here. Because their products are perfect, and balance different trade offs, they encourage other manufacturers to fill those gaps. This is a win that wasn’t happening when Tile was the dominant player.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#297

Post by xyzzyz »

hunterb123 wrote: post #264
burlesona wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. Not disagreeing with or commenting on that policy at all, but I had no idea knives were treated so seriously in the UK (and presumably elsewhere). Meanwhile in much of the US, not only can you can openly carry a gun around, you don’t even need a permit. Just wow. The world is vast and strange.

The Brits don't have a 2A. We have it because of the Brits. Life isn't that strange if you follow it back. They have knife bans because they never let their citizens have guns, so there are knife attacks, so they ban knives. That's why terrorists when they can't sneak AK47s in, rely on vans to run people over, that's why there are bollards everywhere. Chemical attacks, axes and such can also be used to kill or harm p…

Interestingly enough, Brits used to also have right to own and bear arms, but they lost it in early 20th century. That’s what happens with freedom, if you don’t watch it.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#298

Post by tshaddox »

sixothree wrote: post #278
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.

What's different from a thief stealing my bag and carrying it around in their car versus me putting an airtag in the exact same location without them knowing? If a thief has my bag I definitely don't want them knowing they're being tracked. Maybe I don't quite understand something about this announcement.

It’s honestly pretty silly to expect to track down thieves because they stole something with a tracking device in it. Are you really going to chase a thief and confront them? Do you really think the police are going to do it for you?

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#299

Post by tshaddox »

missedthecue wrote: post #130
chroma wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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

Killing someone with a nuclear bomb is illegal too but it’s also illegal for you to buy a nuclear bomb.

Re: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking

#300

Post by schlowmo »

I don't think that the timing of this has much to do with the following, but I find it an amusing coincidence:

Just a month ago the German activist Lilith Wittmann used an airtag to corroborate the suspicion that a branch of the German government she (or anyone else who should) never heard about before called "Bundesservice Telekommunikation" (Federal service of telecommunication) is just a front for the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the federal domestic intelligence agency). Unfortunately I only found this [0] article in english quickly, a longer piece by herself in German can be found at [1].

[0] https://www.imore.com/german-woman-uses-airtag-find-governme...

[1] https://lilithwittmann.medium.com/bundesservice-telekommunik...

Post reply on HN