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AirTag Anti-Stalking Measures 'Just Aren't Sufficient' Says Washington Post Report
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Please show where Apple made an objectively false claim on this.
Yep, and in situations like this, do what I do.… Ignore the irrelevant chatter here and elsewhere, use the product how you like, and be happy.
I totally disagree with the article. There is already too much anti-stalking bias in the design of AirTags, making the design too pro-thief. I want a tag that is useful in helping me track my stolen property and get it back. That means the tag should not alert the thief that it is there, perhaps hidden in a bag pocket or sewn into it. I also want an easy mechanism to temporarily give law enforcement the ability to track the tag until they successfully recover the stolen item.
Correct. Why is WaPo bashing Apple when, like you said, Amazon has all kind of devices to stalk someone. Maybe WaPo needs to do a story on its parent company about stalking devices instead.
You know you make a statement about lost and stolen items. I have seen a lot of comments saying AirTags are not for locating stolen items, only lost. This is not directed at you by no means but what would be the difference if you sat your back pack down walked off and forgot about it (lost item) versus you are sitting at your favorite outdoor diner and some dude on a bike rides by and steals your back pack (stolen) Either way you want your item back I am just not understanding why some people say they are only for lost items and not for stolen items.
Apple has not claimed that their privacy features prevent someone using it to stalk someone. All they have said is they have built this feature to help prevent, which is more than Tile or anyone else has done in that regard.
Because apparently apple has expressed that distinction; that’s why the anti-stalking functions are not a concern to apple. If someone steals your stuff, you don’t want the tag beeping at them so they know it’s tagged and know to ditch the tag. If you lose something, the finder may hear the beeping and can use a smartphone to read the tag and get your contact info. These features make sense for a tag designed for lost items and not for stolen items.
So in this case it seems Apple is damned if they do, damned if they don't.
That's it! I'll return all my AirTag and sell all my Apple stocks.
/s
/s
Oh okay. Thanks for clarifying that. I just wasn’t sure what the difference was between lost and stolen as that related to AirTags.
Apple went to great lengths to make these devices really small and have great range, while also touting the anti-stalking tech. WaPo is right to critique the critical gaps that remain in that anti-stalking tech.
What WaPo highlighted is that a stalker abuser could stuff an air tag in the bottom of their SO’s purse/bag - where any audible chime would be muffled - and if their SO uses android, he/she/they would be likely none the wiser, yet the stalker would have very accurate location data on them. This is largely contrary to Apple’s claims that the device is resistant to stalking.
If Apple is serious about making this more resistant to stalkers, they would work with Google or otherwise provide an app in the Play store that could do android notifications of unknown airtags that “stick” with them.
This isn’t to say apple didn’t release a “good” product or to shame apple. It’s just always good to highlight where gaps are in tech - especially in lieu of the marketing - and where further work needs to be done.
What WaPo highlighted is that a stalker abuser could stuff an air tag in the bottom of their SO’s purse/bag - where any audible chime would be muffled - and if their SO uses android, he/she/they would be likely none the wiser, yet the stalker would have very accurate location data on them. This is largely contrary to Apple’s claims that the device is resistant to stalking.
If Apple is serious about making this more resistant to stalkers, they would work with Google or otherwise provide an app in the Play store that could do android notifications of unknown airtags that “stick” with them.
This isn’t to say apple didn’t release a “good” product or to shame apple. It’s just always good to highlight where gaps are in tech - especially in lieu of the marketing - and where further work needs to be done.
It’s easy to criticize, and hard to create. Seeing these counter arguments like Tile is worse, but they’re network is smaller therefore apple is bad is so asinine.
Why is MacRumors giving the Washington ****post free coverage?
Why is MacRumors giving the Washington ****post free coverage?
Perhaps that will be something Apple may do. The reason I say that is I doubt Apple would want the bad press if it gets out a lot of Android users are being stalked by AirTags.
it doesn't. find my network doesn't compare to the competition.
if the competition had a network of this vastness, this would have been discussed before.
Admittedly, I'm not terribly familiar with the Airtag design, but if you recall the Wii controller, it had a built-in speaker that was rather loud. Simply putting tape over the sound holes made a big difference. My point is that if someone is going to be creepy, they might think of a few hacks along the way.
Using an AirTag to stalk someone will be self incriminating since it will be tied to the stalkers Apple ID.
I totally knew this was gonna be a massive privacy problem and beneficial for stalkers:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-process.2278633/?post=29464228#post-29464228
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-process.2278633/?post=29464228#post-29464228
You are wrong. If you want to stalk someone with a tile, the victim would have to install the tile app and allow it to run in the background. With air tags, tracking is built-in to every iOS device and enabled by default.
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Actually it can be disabled by turning off the Find My Network
Much much easier to hide an AirTag, and the battery lasts a year
Technology can be used for bad things by people with malicious intent? Oh, the horror!!!! In other news water is wet.
So the conclusion is...best in class but still not good enough for them.
So does the author just dislike the idea of tracking tags? That's totally fine but seems a weird person to tap to write the article.
So does the author just dislike the idea of tracking tags? That's totally fine but seems a weird person to tap to write the article.
The point is it is opt-out, so even if a victim disables it, every iPhone around them will still participate in stalking. Just like a U2 album, Apple has essentially pushed the Tile app onto every iOS device.