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NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

arstechnica.com

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Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#51

Post by trafficante »

zzzeek wrote: post #11

who here can already see clearly the NYPD officer's completely blank stare when you show them exactly where the car thief took your car. "did you see them do it? otherwise it's not our problem"

Portland Police Bureau are in good company, it seems.

The only reason to file a police report for a stolen vehicle these days (in Portland) is documentation for insurance. I very rarely hear about people getting their cars back via PPB without it being months later (and in pieces with mysterious stains everywhere) due to being incidentally swept up in a rare chop shop bust.

And yes, this is a policing problem. It’s also a city council problem. And a DA problem. And a homeless/drug problem (both direct results of voter referendums).

But we have a two party system so urbanite Oregonians will never vote these idiots out.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#54

Post by JumpCrisscross »

WheatMillington wrote: post #43
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would anyone have one [an Android phone]?" Mayor Adams responded This is a New Yorker’s response to a stupid question. AirTags have a recognised brand. Messaging “buy AirTags” comes through cleanly in a way an inclusive statement would not. Given nobody is burning city funds for this, it’s literally a PSA, a reporter asking the mayor technical questions the answer to which they know is fine to be answered dismi…

Did you miss the part where the city is giving away 500 air tags? It's right at the start of the article. You did read the article, didn't you?

> Did you miss the part where the city is giving away 500 air tags?

That’s a publicity stunt, not a crime-fighting measure. I do not count five hundred AirTags as “burning city funds.”

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#55

Post by catiopatio »

evandale wrote: post #15
politelemon wrote: post #3

This article throws up many flags for me, not necessarily red, but of a worrying color. It first celebrates surveillance devices as a net positive and hand-waves away its problems. But most importantly, it is awfully shortsighted to allow a single company to entrench itself further into societal transactions. However, hearing it is inconvenient, so I am often dismissed for saying so. > They're made by Apple, which me…

Video of "Why would anyone have one?" Around 15:50: https://youtu.be/Vuw72THyXsQ?t=942 They were laughing at it. So hilarious, I'm in stitches over the ignorance.

Why would I choose an Android phone? Apple does not spy on me, and does not sell my information to advertisers. An iPhone SE is $429, or can be financed at the same price, with zero interest, at $17.87 for 24 months.

Why would I want to join Google’s advertiser-driven ecosystem, and voluntarily make myself into Google’s product?

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#56

Post by catiopatio »

platevoltage wrote: post #6

I use Airtags for this purpose with my car and my bicycle, but they're not designed for this purpose. You can pull the speaker coil out of them fairly easily, but they will still notify the thief that they're being tracked if they have an iPhone on them. Not ideal, but it beats having a huge epidemic of stalking.

> Not ideal, but it beats having a huge epidemic of stalking.

Does it, though? And are those really the only two possible outcomes?

I blame reactionary click-bait journalism for forcing Apple to take these steps.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#57

Post by belltaco »

catiopatio wrote: post #55
evandale wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Video of "Why would anyone have one?" Around 15:50: https://youtu.be/Vuw72THyXsQ?t=942 They were laughing at it. So hilarious, I'm in stitches over the ignorance.

Why would I choose an Android phone? Apple does not spy on me, and does not sell my information to advertisers. An iPhone SE is $429, or can be financed at the same price , with zero interest, at $17.87 for 24 months. Why would I want to join Google’s advertiser-driven ecosystem, and voluntarily make myself into Google’s product?

Not sure how that's a good response. Nobody is this thread is saying you should be forced into not using Apple phones.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#59

Post by WWLink »

pnw wrote: post #48

This is a terrible suggestion because Apple has effectively removed the anti-theft features of Airtags in favor of protection against stalking. The thief will be notified of the tag in less than an hour usually. I see the alert anytime I mind my friends dog. Typically within 45-60 minutes of my friend leaving, I get an alert which includes a map of where I was tracked and my friends email address. The original Airtag…

> The thief will be notified of the tag in less than an hour usually. I see the alert anytime I mind my friends dog. Typically within 45-60 minutes of my friend leaving, I get an alert which includes a map of where I was tracked and my friends email address.

To be fair, 45-60 minutes to track a stolen car is still a lot better than nothing.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#60

Post by tantalor »

zzzeek wrote: post #11

who here can already see clearly the NYPD officer's completely blank stare when you show them exactly where the car thief took your car. "did you see them do it? otherwise it's not our problem"

https://abc7.com/ebike-theft-airtag-aliso-viejo/13091749/

> spokesperson with the Orange County Sheriff's Department reminded victims of crime to let local law enforcement take over the recovery of stolen items

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