Apple Releases 'Tracker Detect' App to Prevent Android Users From Being Tracked by AirTags

[Analog Kid]

I think the fundamental problem here is that AirTags are inherently boring but because they have that little apple picture on them people want to find a way to turn them into something exciting-- steal a car, find a stolen car and bust a chop shop, stalk people, make sure their kids are home by 11, find a rogue cat...

Sorry folks. There still aren't apps for some things. If you lost your keychain, or your luggage got stuck in Poughkeepsie, then there's an app for that.

 

[Analog Kid]

If a thief is able to see the AirTag and knows what it does, all it has ever taken to render the AirTag useless is either removing the AirTag from the item and leaving it somewhere where its item isn’t (throwing it in a lake, metaphorically or otherwise) or, more simply, removing the battery.

EMP ?

 

[jfremani]

This is great for thieves that use android. They can use this app to scan for any trackers on the stuff they're stealing.

AirTags are almost useless now.

 

[incoherent_1]

You absolutely can, I know people who put them in the frame, or inside a reflector.

Maybe some, but it doesn’t work for mine — literally no place to put it. Love the username btw

 

[0924487]

Apple will offer information on how to disable it by removing the battery.

You can disable it by putting it in a cup of water.

 

[0924487]

For roughly the 10,000th time, AirTags are not for tracking stolen items. They are for locating lost items.

Apple is very explicit about this. If you want to track stolen items, you should look elsewhere.

Most lost stuff of value are stolen.

Most broken locks are cut.

Most missing children are taken.

Most firearm victims are killed on purpose.

 

[0924487]

So, if 50 companies come out with trackers, do I need 50 apps on my phone to see if any of them are nearby?

Time for an EU legislation, lol

 

[0924487]

They're tryna nerf the stalking potential. But their solution is toothless.

The thing is, how do you differentiate stalking and stealing?

 

[0924487]

Well... The AirTag has to be separated from its owner. So unless you are far away from your keys anyway, it's not possible.

Washroom?

 

[0924487]

It was always probably much easier for a thief to physically look for any AirTag attached to a stolen item and then remove/destroy it anyway. This app doesn't really change a whole lot for stolen items, unless the AirTag was so unbelievably hidden that a physical search was impossible. I can't imagine any realistic scenario where that was the case.

AirTags are not very useful for tracking stolen items in the first place.

It's very useful. You can place it in a hidden pouch of a DSLR enclosure. It's impossible to discover while the fugitive is still on the run.

You can even place it in your purse or carry-on, and it will take a long time for it to be discovered.

You can attach it to your young children.

 

[0924487]

Apple creating a whole mess of problems and completely ruining an extraordinary product all in the name of ‘fixing’ a non-problem.

Airtags where the perfection of what Tile should have been and were the best antitheft device ever. Now they are worse than useless thanks to ignorant hysteria. One has to wonder if this anti tracking paranoia is really just bending over for people who make money off of theft.

I think one solution is to make it so that you have to register with your ID when buying the AirTag, and you are not allowed to sell it to anyone other than back to Apple, otherwise, you are permanently legally and criminally liable for its misuse. This way, it can be used as an antitheft device, and if misused for stalking, the buyer information is available and can be readily arrested. If an AirTag is missing or lost, you have to report it within 24 hours.

 

[0924487]

This is exactly it. It's amazing that this still doesn't get through.

"I don't care if someone can use an AirTag to stalk my kids, I need to find the jerk who stole my wallet!"

What if the human trafficker disables the AirTag you put on your child to prevent you from "stalking" your missing child?

 

[0924487]

It's almost like people are complaining that a product isn't optimized for a use case that was never intended or marketed. The danger of a person being stalked outweighs the risk of losing an item to theft. In the former case, a person's safety -- or possibly even life -- is at stake; in the latter, you're out the cost of the item that was stolen, which you can get reimbursed for by having insurance if the item is sufficiently valuable enough to warrant it.

Stalking almost never happens, despite the pc hype.

Theft happens all the time and to everyone.

 

[0924487]

They'll probably download the wrong app anyways

now, make a few decoys

 

[0924487]

The solution is to not put the AirTags on something that is very valuable and not nearby. AirTags are for things like keys, remotes, wallet, etc. - things that are small, not always on your person and can get misplaced easily. Apple never claimed AirTags was for tracking stolen items. That being said, I do use it for my dog and it works fine for that.

Then, what do you use for the anti-theft case?

I'm not gonna spend $29 a pop just to find my keys or remotes. It's probably cheaper to get a another one and wait for the original one to show up a few days later.

In case of dogs, same thing. What if your dog is taken, and the guy just disables it? If it can't be scanned or heard, then it's very likely that the dog thief will not immediately discover the AirTag embedded in the collar.

 

[0924487]

Disable them? How? If you read the article you're replying to, you need to remove the battery to disable it. I think someone will notice the guy going through everyone's luggage and the pile of batteries next to them...

There is no need for that, you only need a cup of water or a small bottle of coke.

 

[jfremani]

Except you can’t hide an AirTag on something like, for example, a bike.

You absolutely can. I have one hidden inside the reflector. Useless now.

 

[RRZEurope]

Now the thief can check with his android phone where the airtag is located on my bike before stealing it?

 

[RRZEurope]

So I'm *really* confused by this. If someone steals something of mine that has an AirTag attached, what now prevents the thief from using this App (or any other mechanism that allows him to detect nearby Tags that aren't his) to determine that the object has my Tag on it, cause it to beep (so he can find it), and then remove and destroy it? Wouldn't thieves now routinely do this to find out if something they've taken has an AirTag attached?

How is there any way to determine whether an AirTag in proximity to me is there because I stole something (with an AirTag legitimately attached by the owner) or because someone placed it surreptitiously on me?

This would seem to render AirTags pretty useless for their whole intended purpose... no?

I just bought 8 airtags last week and now Apple renders them essentially useless - thank you Apple for nothing !

 

[arielp.1404]

sooo.. basically android is now helping locating airtag as well?? by uploading the located airtag info to apple??

 

[mnsportsgeek]

And for the 1,000,000th time, that’s an ignorant argument. as originally designed, they are the ideal anti theft device regardless of some weasel disclaimer words tacked on by legal nerds. The world is full of invaluable inventions that only became so after being used in ways other than originally intended.

There are already so many ways to easily track someone that AirTag did nothing consequential to add to the situation. But they were biggest step in preventing theft in a long time.

This “not intended for it” argument is so tiresome and irrelevant that I can’t see any other explanation except that folks pushing actually like the ability to steel other people’s stuff and are annoyed that a countermeasure as effective as Airtags exists.

This "as originally designed" argument is so tiresome and irrelevant that I can't see any other explanation except that folks pushing actually like the ability to stalk strangers and invade others privacy.

 

[AltJ]

So, if 50 companies come out with trackers, do I need 50 apps on my phone to see if any of them are nearby?

yes

 

[urnotl33t]

Each and every update are making apple AirTags less useful in tracking items that might have been intentionally stolen.

It was never intended to find stolen items. Only yours which you lost.

 

[urnotl33t]

So I'm *really* confused by this. If someone steals something of mine that has an AirTag attached, what now prevents the thief from using this App (or any other mechanism that allows him to detect nearby Tags that aren't his) to determine that the object has my Tag on it, cause it to beep (so he can find it), and then remove and destroy it? Wouldn't thieves now routinely do this to find out if something they've taken has an AirTag attached?

How is there any way to determine whether an AirTag in proximity to me is there because I stole something (with an AirTag legitimately attached by the owner) or because someone placed it surreptitiously on me?

This would seem to render AirTags pretty useless for their whole intended purpose... no?

Never intended to find stolen items. Only yours which you lost.
(I had better get my copy/paste button ready... I'm gonna be here a while.)

 

[picard102]

It was never intended to find stolen items. Only yours which you lost.

An item can be lost and stolen. Save the copy pasta.