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

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

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 322 posts

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

#181

Post by latchkey »

crhulls wrote: post #159
chaircher wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "actual stalking report"? ID verification is the way to go IMO. So much stalking isn't like in movies, it's just seemingly normal people seeing how far they can push things and get away with it. And potentially some way to get people to register what it's being used for, as well as a way to register it missing. That would be very useful in a stalking case to cross-reference with how a the alledged…

I mean that we do know what it is like when users are stalked with our product - we've heard all sorts of crazy stories over the years about our app being used for stalking - it sucks when we hear it and we help with law enforcement. This just hasn't been a thing for Tile (yet anyway - probably due to the much less dense network). I think we will end up with ID verification - I bet Apple could do that too. Then you'd…

> in terms of actual reports of stalking via our devices it is essentially zero

I'm confused, now you're admitting that stalking is an active part of the product and this has gone on for years.

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

#182

Post by BrandoElFollito »

kbos87 wrote: 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…

There is also the special case of my wife who has my position on Google maps, and an automation where she gets it when sending me a special SMS.

Yet she always calls to ask where I am (in your first scenario: because dinner or that she will kill the children if I am not back quickly).

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

#183

Post by jtbayly »

oneplane wrote: post #162
adolph wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A totally anonymous phone card would be a bit tougher. My guess is that the proliferation of iot devices like CPAPs using mobile data plan means that one could be stolen or dumpster-found without someone knowing the chip needs to be deactivated.

> A totally anonymous phone card would be a bit tougher Depends on where you buy them. The internet is big and you can have stuff delivered anywhere, including somewhere that doesn't have your name or address.

But hard to pay without your name, right?

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

#184

Post by reaperducer »

ameminator wrote: post #177
reaperducer wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ask - what new insight did this article offer on Airtags? Ask the author: https://mobile.twitter.com/kashhill Let us know what she says. The author also seems to be somewhat deceptive Let us know what she has to say about that, too.

I don't have twitter and I don't think twitter is a good platform for discussion.

No problem! There's a link on her NY Times biography page so you can e-mail her: https://www.nytimes.com/by/kashmir-hill

Or are you going to make up another excuse to hide behind the anonymity of HN so you can throw around a bunch of insulting questions in public without bothering to speak directly to the person you're criticizing?

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

#185

Post by Zigurd »

alistairSH wrote: post #135

And, if I'm reading the documentation correctly, for the only use case I personally care about (theft recovery for expensive bicycles), it's useless because the thief can utilize the anti-stalk features to locate/disable the tag?

It would make a good decoy: "Ah! I found the airtag under the saddle!"

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

#186

Post by smilespray »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #44
ameminator wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually tend to agree somewhat with your arguments. However, from the article, I don't think you can reach those conclusions like: "Apple needs to improve, but still drastically better than everything else out there" Where does the article talk about this class of device? Nowhere is a competing product mentioned or compared against. Even a Bluetooth keyfob, used to track keys by emitting a sound (and widely availa…

Yeah Tile even has the same network tracking effects that extend widely beyond bluetooth range. They've done this for a decade at this point, IIRC.

Too bad Tile's network tracking is useless in most areas since an app install is required to be part of the network.

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

#187

Post by toxik »

technothrasher wrote: post #171
kbos87 wrote: 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…

> Checking in constantly. Wondering and/or quizzing their child This behavior is rampant in my peer group. Most of my friends/neighbors are constantly monitoring their teen age children's location, reading their recent calls, texts, and emails, looking at internet usage logs, etc. One of my neighbors even calls her daughter every time she sees she's driving over the speed limit and yells at her. It all seems so creep…

How do they see their texts calls emails etc? Surely that’s illegal.

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

#188

Post by xtracto »

kelnos wrote: post #122
gwbas1c wrote: post #29

I often peek at my wife when she's coming home from work via our car's app. She knows I do this. (When my kids are with me they love watching the car move on the map. I hope she peeks at me when she's with the kids and I have the car.) What made it funny one time was when I was between jobs, and she went to her gynecologist after work. Even though she told me, I forgot, and the map only showed that there was a divorc…

> Even though she told me, I forgot, and the map only showed that there was a divorce lawyer's office in the parking lot. I really needed a hug when she walked in the door. A fine example of why pervasive tracking is terrible for relationships. I'm assuming based on your tone that you were calm and collected and didn't fly off the handle with accusations when she got home. But I think there are many people who would…

Stanley Kubrick put it very well in Eyes Wide Shut. A person can let his imagination fly so wildly when he is fixated in one issue.

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

#189

Post by cmckn »

technothrasher wrote: post #171
kbos87 wrote: 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…

> Checking in constantly. Wondering and/or quizzing their child This behavior is rampant in my peer group. Most of my friends/neighbors are constantly monitoring their teen age children's location, reading their recent calls, texts, and emails, looking at internet usage logs, etc. One of my neighbors even calls her daughter every time she sees she's driving over the speed limit and yells at her. It all seems so creep…

I definitely did things as a teenager that were dangerous, unnecessary, detrimental to my physical or mental health, etc. etc. I don't have kids, but I would probably make some effort to dissuade my kids from doing the same things I did. How do you approach that, without heavy surveillance? Did you just get lucky with good kids? Is having conversations about it enough?

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

#190

Post by jackson1442 »

kelnos wrote: post #105
tokamak-teapot wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it hard to buy a SIM card in much of the world? I can walk into one or about ten shops within 5km of here and buy one instantly. I think the price is ‘free’ but you pay something like EUR 10 to have credit on it. If you want to be anonymous, you can wear a hood and a mask and pay with cash.

In the US, it's very unusual to buy a SIM card outside of purchasing a phone and phone plan. And while we do have prepaid options, they're much less commonly used than in other countries. At a quick glance, the cheapest T-Mobile plan is $60/mo, or $45/mo if you're adding a second line to an existing plan. You can also get a SIM card intended for IoT usage, but this is probably not something your average non-technical…

I could drive to walmart (most large stores, really) and buy 20 sims from various prepaid providers. Most people may not do this, but it is certainly a viable option for such a device.
Post reply on HN