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I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

nytimes.com

71–80 of 322 posts

Re: I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

#71
I understand the negative points about airtags, and one negative point I thought of but never see mentioned is the fact that all iphones are opted in by default to use battery life and data (however little) to operate the findmy network. In fact not many non-tech people realize that a) airtags work globally, not just near your iphone and b) relay data through any nearby iphone and not somehow directly to apple. People are usually blown away when I show them my map with a bunch things

But as a forgetful person, I got a pack of four on the day they were released. I used one when shipping an important, time sensitive and expensive item to a client. It was a huge value compared to the usual tracking of packages. I could see exactly when it moved from customs to an airplane, and surprisingly the location even updated in flight! I used and am still using this data, many times to confirm when the item was actually on the way or not, and if related travel and work can be done or not. It's saved thousands of dollars.

Another time, I was just about to board a train from Paris to Luxembourg when my iphone notified me that I left my bag behind (at a cafe in the station). I bought 8 more after that and put them in anything of value I have the experience to leave behind somewhere. Bags, ski boots, glasses case, inside the ear cup of my good headphones. Come to think of it, I should put one in my work notebook. Early in my career I had a work trip to sketch all of the dimensions of some heavy machinery so I could automate it (replace actuators and control them with an added PLC). I lost the notebook and had to go back, which was probably a $20k mistake in travel costs + not working on other projects.

Re: I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

#72
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The issue with AirTags at their core is that they permit people who are deceptive and shady to do bad things much easier than they could before. But that's just not true. Seriously, right now, go to Amazon and type in "GPS Tracker" and look at the results: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gps+tracker Literally $30 gets you a 1oz cellular magnetized tracker you put a SIM into for real time tracking anywhere with cell cove…

> Apple being Apple may well have brought more publicity to the issue but no, AirTags do not do what you say they do. If anything there are reasonable arguments that Apple has been too careful to the extent of making them pretty irritating in family/friends usage where everyone gets nagged for normal shared item activity and cannot use them in a shared way (despite being able to do so for devices!). Bringing more att…

> Likewise, compare sales of AirTags to the GPS Trackers on Amazon.

You know one has a convenience factor to it, right? And it’s a known brand and has an ecosystem built up around it… These misc trackers on Amazon don’t have that… why would you ever consider comparing the sales as an argument?

Re: I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

#73
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple being Apple may well have brought more publicity to the issue but no, AirTags do not do what you say they do. If anything there are reasonable arguments that Apple has been too careful to the extent of making them pretty irritating in family/friends usage where everyone gets nagged for normal shared item activity and cannot use them in a shared way (despite being able to do so for devices!). Bringing more att…

> Likewise, compare sales of AirTags to the GPS Trackers on Amazon. You know one has a convenience factor to it, right? And it’s a known brand and has an ecosystem built up around it… These misc trackers on Amazon don’t have that… why would you ever consider comparing the sales as an argument?

This is exactly the point I am making -- Apple has made it EASIER -- which xoa was arguing against.

Re: I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

#74
post #32

My comment isn’t specific to AirTags, but there’s a much larger conversation that needs to be had about this gray area of stalking capabilities that are now built into many mainstream products. Here’s a pattern I’ve seen play out more than once among friends and family - they share their location willingly and for seemingly benign reasons. It’s helpful to know when you’ll be getting home so I can start dinner! Just i…

You can’t fix a lack of emotional fortitude and insecurities with technology. These are mental health challenges exacerbated by the tools available.

How do you fix a "lack of emotional fortitude"? Can everyone succeed at that? How long does it take to fix?

The reality is that some people are emotionally vulnerable and our we should keep that in mind as we develop products. Most new products (and indeed all changes in society) have some kind of negative impact to someone, and we can't get that to zero, but we should strive to minimize the harm we do.

Re: I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

#75
post #32

My comment isn’t specific to AirTags, but there’s a much larger conversation that needs to be had about this gray area of stalking capabilities that are now built into many mainstream products. Here’s a pattern I’ve seen play out more than once among friends and family - they share their location willingly and for seemingly benign reasons. It’s helpful to know when you’ll be getting home so I can start dinner! Just i…

You can’t fix a lack of emotional fortitude and insecurities with technology. These are mental health challenges exacerbated by the tools available.

No post body was provided.

Re: I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

#76
post #5

Look, I usually try to be charitable. However, this article offered no new insight on Apple Airtags. If you don't want to waste your time, allow me to summarize: Woman puts Airtags in a car. Her husband isn't able to find them, even using Apple's "anti-stalk" features. Ergo, Apple needs to do more. I ask - what new insight did this article offer on Airtags? I don't think anyone can conclude either way on the effectiv…

The fact that she was to tired to take a baby to the hospital, but not to follow husband every step is what concerns me.

baby-hospital visits are brutal. It's about 8 hours of waiting (usually in the middle of the night) with a screaming child while staff ignores you and then finally says there isn't a problem.

Recently during a bout of covid my son's tongue was blue and he couldn't figure out what was up. My wife wanted to the go to ER, the doctor said to go to the ER. I said, "no, there's another explanation for this and nobody is losing a night of sleep over this". The next day we noticed the blue tongue happened after taking some blue-colored vitamin gummies.

Re: I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

#77
My wife and I have Google maps location sharing turned on all the time. It's not stepping because we agreed to it. Last night I got home from a motorcycle ride and the garage door opened as I pulled up because my wife knew I was coming home from a movie and saw I was almost home.

Re: I used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker to watch my husband’s every move

#79
post #77

My wife and I have Google maps location sharing turned on all the time. It's not stepping because we agreed to it. Last night I got home from a motorcycle ride and the garage door opened as I pulled up because my wife knew I was coming home from a movie and saw I was almost home.

We do the same.

We realized we were calling each other too often asking where the other is and just decided to let tech solve the problem. Now I can push a button and see how far away from home she is.

If I decide to do something sketchy, I can turn off location temporarily and just lie to her about what I was doing if she checks while I was crime-ing. Same as the pretech way. :-P

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