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

FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 69 posts

Re: FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

#11

Post by diggan »

compsciphd wrote: post #6

This concept would possible be used to get around the stalking features that Apple et al has implemented. Ex: Get N donor tags. Have it cycle through the N tags every 24/N hours. Therefore, to apple (/ device tracking), the "stalkee" is never being followed by a single tag for an extended period of time.

> Ex: Get N donor tags. Have it cycle through the N tags every 24/N hours. Therefore, to apple (/ device tracking), the "stalkee" is never being followed by a single tag for an extended period of time.

If you have to cycle the tags constantly, couldn't you just physically follow the person and spend less effort/money at that point? Or get a GPS tag that doesn't use the AirTag "network" at all, no cycling needed.

Re: FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

#12

Post by winkelmann »

diggan wrote: post #11
compsciphd wrote: post #6

This concept would possible be used to get around the stalking features that Apple et al has implemented. Ex: Get N donor tags. Have it cycle through the N tags every 24/N hours. Therefore, to apple (/ device tracking), the "stalkee" is never being followed by a single tag for an extended period of time.

> Ex: Get N donor tags. Have it cycle through the N tags every 24/N hours. Therefore, to apple (/ device tracking), the "stalkee" is never being followed by a single tag for an extended period of time. If you have to cycle the tags constantly, couldn't you just physically follow the person and spend less effort/money at that point? Or get a GPS tag that doesn't use the AirTag "network" at all, no cycling needed.

You wouldn't actually physically cycle/replace the tag. As you can see in the README, you can clone real tags, which could be advertised by the device in intervals.

Re: FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

#15

Post by compsciphd »

winkelmann wrote: post #12
diggan wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ex: Get N donor tags. Have it cycle through the N tags every 24/N hours. Therefore, to apple (/ device tracking), the "stalkee" is never being followed by a single tag for an extended period of time. If you have to cycle the tags constantly, couldn't you just physically follow the person and spend less effort/money at that point? Or get a GPS tag that doesn't use the AirTag "network" at all, no cycling needed.

You wouldn't actually physically cycle/replace the tag. As you can see in the README, you can clone real tags, which could be advertised by the device in intervals.

right, I'm actually wondering if one could build an esp32 device that did this itself (i.e. without the need of a flipper zero). Basically something in a similar form factor of an actual air tag.

the anti-stalking features make airtags less useful for anti-theft (or theft discovery), as any aware thief can just disable the tag due to the anti-stalking feature (apple does note that its not designed for anti-theft purposes). But if one can defeat the anti-stalking feature, it makes it much more practical for this.

Personally, I wish Apple allowed one to permanently put their air-tag into law enforcement mode, which would prevent you personally from tracking it (and remove it from stalking alerts), but would provide legally recognized law enforcement the ability to request the tracking record (i.e. same process that they might use for requesting cell phone location data).

Re: FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

#16

Post by numpad0 »

diggan wrote: post #11
compsciphd wrote: post #6

This concept would possible be used to get around the stalking features that Apple et al has implemented. Ex: Get N donor tags. Have it cycle through the N tags every 24/N hours. Therefore, to apple (/ device tracking), the "stalkee" is never being followed by a single tag for an extended period of time.

> Ex: Get N donor tags. Have it cycle through the N tags every 24/N hours. Therefore, to apple (/ device tracking), the "stalkee" is never being followed by a single tag for an extended period of time. If you have to cycle the tags constantly, couldn't you just physically follow the person and spend less effort/money at that point? Or get a GPS tag that doesn't use the AirTag "network" at all, no cycling needed.

(in case elaboration is useful: AirTag relies on GPS location reports from user unaware iOS phones. This enables a stalker to throw a tag into your backpack and follow you. iOS notifies this happening to the user based on tag ID, and presumably GP meant that cycling through fake IDs could bypass triggering that.)

Re: FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

#17

Post by copperx »

compsciphd wrote: post #15
winkelmann wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't actually physically cycle/replace the tag. As you can see in the README, you can clone real tags, which could be advertised by the device in intervals.

right, I'm actually wondering if one could build an esp32 device that did this itself (i.e. without the need of a flipper zero). Basically something in a similar form factor of an actual air tag. the anti-stalking features make airtags less useful for anti-theft (or theft discovery), as any aware thief can just disable the tag due to the anti-stalking feature (apple does note that its not designed for anti-theft purp…

What is purpose of the law enforcement feature? Would it be like donating an AirTag to police?

Re: FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

#18

Post by copperx »

nunobrito wrote: post #10
phasE89 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you use it for?

The IR blaster is the most common usage. After that, some games are good. Pass hours playing scorched earth while travelling. Also give it for my kids to play instead of letting use the phone and browse random stuff on youtube.

I'm glad you've found an use for it. Its most common use is a paperweight at home.

Re: FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

#19

Post by nom »

compsciphd wrote: post #6

This concept would possible be used to get around the stalking features that Apple et al has implemented. Ex: Get N donor tags. Have it cycle through the N tags every 24/N hours. Therefore, to apple (/ device tracking), the "stalkee" is never being followed by a single tag for an extended period of time.

If it's not patched yet: I heard you can just power cycle a tag on a timer to evade detection. Add a large battery with a simple timer circuit, remove the beeper and you got yourself an amazing tracking device.

IIRC this came up in the context of tracking shipments with expensive equipment, where it can be in transit for many months. The tags are so power efficient that they work for ages on a large battery, existing GPS solutions just didn't cut it.

Re: FindMy Flipper – AirTag and SmartTag Emulator

#20

Post by theshrike79 »

copperx wrote: post #18
nunobrito wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The IR blaster is the most common usage. After that, some games are good. Pass hours playing scorched earth while travelling. Also give it for my kids to play instead of letting use the phone and browse random stuff on youtube.

I'm glad you've found an use for it. Its most common use is a paperweight at home.

Dunno about the current prices, but it was a REALLY expensive paperweight for a long time. People paid hundreds of dollars for one.
Post reply on HN