AirGuard: Protect yourself from being tracked by AirTags and Find My accessories

hughes wrote: post #3

akomtu wrote: post #2

Legislation is the proper protection here.

Is there a specific policy you think should be legislated that would prevent unwanted tracking?

A blanket ban on hoarding, storing and selling personal data for any purposes other than natsec. Basically, treat personal data like nuclear materials in the laws.

Re: AirGuard: Protect yourself from being tracked by AirTags and Find My accessories

#7

Post by KingMachiavelli » Sat, Sep 18, 2021, 7:02 PM UTC

akomtu wrote: post #2

Legislation is the proper protection here.

The tracking using Airtags has very little to do with Apple or any entity that could be controlled via legislation. Airtags themselves don't allow a non-owner to access location data anyway.

The tracking via Airtags is just putting a device on someone's person without their knowledge. That is already illegal but unless you know a crime has been committed you are SOL.

Re: AirGuard: Protect yourself from being tracked by AirTags and Find My accessories

#8

Post by smoldesu » Sat, Sep 18, 2021, 7:02 PM UTC

akomtu wrote: post #6

hughes wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a specific policy you think should be legislated that would prevent unwanted tracking?

A blanket ban on hoarding, storing and selling personal data for any purposes other than natsec. Basically, treat personal data like nuclear materials in the laws.

I wasn't onboard at first, but I actually think that's a pretty reasonable take to have on it. Apple should be allowed to implement Find My, but only as an open standard that other manufacturers can implement so they can also have safety features. Simply notifying every iPhone isn't going to stop someone from putting it in a kid's backpack, tracking your vehicle, or any other obvious edge case. There are lots of solutions here, but all of them involve Apple tipping their hand: something they've vehemently opposed in the past.

Re: AirGuard: Protect yourself from being tracked by AirTags and Find My accessories

#9

Post by justblender » Sat, Sep 18, 2021, 7:07 PM UTC

>If a devices follows you, you will get a notification in less than an hour!

Not sure if this is right for me, my wife could cheat on me faster.

Re: AirGuard: Protect yourself from being tracked by AirTags and Find My accessories

#10

Post by KingMachiavelli » Sat, Sep 18, 2021, 7:08 PM UTC

Pretty cool but why does it have to be limited to AirTag or any specific devices? It would be easy to expand it to keep track of any nearby Bluetooth device and a corresponding whitelist. (Or do AirTag devices rotate Bluetooth MACs?)

Airtags are just one implementation of a Bluetooth transmitter and a long life battery but anyone could probably build a similar device dedicated to tracking with off the shelf parts.