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

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

#381

Post by cobertos »

crhulls wrote: post #236

I'm the CEO of Life360, Tile's parent company. I chimed in on another comment but adding to the conversation directly here. I'm biased, but I am surprised how little pushback this is getting as AirTags explicitly are NOT meant to deter theft - to combat stalking (which is exceedingly rare) Apple notifies you if a tag you do not own is near you. That goes for thieves - they will be told an AirTag is nearby. At Tile we…

I miss when I could just use the Tile app without the constant nags to upgrade to enter into a subscription.

I already paid for my Tile devices at retail and only access them over Bluetooth locally anyway. Please stop trying to squeeze more money out of me.

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

#382

Post by sgtnoodle »

com2kid wrote: post #376
sgtnoodle wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a tile user, and indeed they seem a bit unreliable. I got one for my wife to keep in a known location because she misplaces her phone, and it works to signal the phone maybe 4 out of 5 times. I have one on my dog's collar, in a 3D printed enclosure. He got out a few weekends ago and ran all around town, and there weren't any breadcrumbs on the app. It's one of the mid-range models rather than the high-end ones, t…

> I'm a tile user, and indeed they seem a bit unreliable. I got one for my wife to keep in a known location because she misplaces her phone, and it works to signal the phone maybe 4 out of 5 times. Mobile is hard. Google's Find My Phone fails to wake up my pixel 7 about half the time I used it, even if I am staring at the phone. Sometimes the alert goes off half an hour later. My fitbit's "find your phone" feature al…

Find My Phone has always worked reliably for me, at least. I suspect the Tile's reliability issues come down to inconsistencies across all Android versions, and perhaps a relative level of cheesiness within the Tile app compared to Apple's stack.

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

#383

Post by politelemon »

interpol_p wrote: post #245
izzydata wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it even true? It seems hard to believe Apple doesn't spy on people or sell information to advertisers.

As far as I am aware, they do not sell information to advertisers. Doing so would be a bad business move for them, anyway (ditching long term brand trust for short term profit?) On AirTag location privacy, from Apple's site [1]: > Only you can see where your AirTag is. Your location data and history are never stored on the AirTag itself. Devices that relay the location of your AirTag also stay anonymous, and that loc…

They do have their own advertising business unit which posted a $4b profit recently. They spy on you in their own ways. Whether or not you find that acceptable is subject to your own conditioning and boundaries.

That said the spying aspect makes little sense to discuss in the context of a literal portable surveillance device leveraging their network, which they keep hand waving away in explanations.

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

#384

Post by politelemon »

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?

> Apple does not spy on me, and does not sell my information to advertisers.

You have misunderstood privacy. It's not limited to selling of information. It's whether you control your own data. With Apple you certainly don't. You are a product either way.

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

#385

Post by buro9 »

A steering wheel lock is better at preventing car thefts, something like this https://www.milenco.com/products/automotive-security/automot...

Then it doesn't matter if someone gains entry to your car and is doing some of the more recent tricks involving the CAN or USB to disable built in immobilizers or convince the car a key is present, the ability to drive the car away is removed without a heavy and loud power tool in a very confined space.

An airtag may help with deterrence if the presence of it is advertised, and may help with recovery if the police are actively doing recovery. But the car is still going to get stolen, it's still going to be inconvenient and involve dealing with the insurers (who do want to avoid paying out).

A steering wheel lock is a far more effective deterrent and preventative.

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

#386

Post by sitkack »

sneak wrote: post #336
icelancer wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SPD does much the same for me. I had my laptop tracked using Prey software (prior to Airtags) and they refused to send cops to a location I personally scouted out, took pictures of, and identified my equipment. When I told them I might confront the thief on my own, they strongly cautioned against it. Basically they aren't interested in doing their job, or anyone taking action themselves.

This is the best argument for defunding the police - their budgets have largely stayed flat or even gone up, and they aren't doing their jobs. Why are we paying for it?

I could write a book about how useless the police are, using only FOIA requested docs.

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

#387

Post by jl6 »

rippercushions wrote: post #234
asveikau wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know anything about the trade of stolen vehicles and the people who do it, but i imagine advertising that will let smart thieves and chop shop types know what to look for and quickly remove. From that perspective it's probably better for people to not know you have lojack, conceal it, and make them work harder to check for it.

The function of the sticker is to make the thief look for an easier target.

Might work for opportunistic thieves, but not for modern steal-to-order gangs.

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

#388

Post by schmorptron »

asveikau wrote: post #169
sgustard wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume the "LoJack Inside" window sticker is the main technology you really want? Suggest the thief go steal a different car?

I don't know anything about the trade of stolen vehicles and the people who do it, but i imagine advertising that will let smart thieves and chop shop types know what to look for and quickly remove. From that perspective it's probably better for people to not know you have lojack, conceal it, and make them work harder to check for it.

Or just put the sticker on it but not have the actual thing in there so they can't find it?

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

#389

Post by mrb »

sgtnoodle wrote: post #380
imp0cat wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean? They can use the same network of Apple devices.

How? Airtags only work because Apple uses any iPhone with BLE support as a detector, whether or not an app is installed. An off-brand BLE beacon would require an app to work at all, and I highly doubt Apple would make it easy for a third party app to run all the time in the background.

According to https://developer.apple.com/find-my/ manufacturers of third party hardware CAN leverage the iPhone BLE network to connect to the FindMy network.

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

#390

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

jl6 wrote: post #387
rippercushions wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The function of the sticker is to make the thief look for an easier target.

Might work for opportunistic thieves, but not for modern steal-to-order gangs.

>but not for modern steal-to-order gangs

Then get a second hand Shit-Box 2000 like I do. Nobody will ever steal it, as no self respecting thief will want to be seen driving that, and it costs me less to buy and own.

Win-win I'd say.

I'm struggling to understand why people who aren't Bezos wealthy buy expensive cars. The depreciation is insane and you're always anxious someone will steal it or ding it in a parking lot. But then if people weren't frivolous with their money, half of us wouldn't have jobs ;)

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