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That defeats the idea I had about tracking our hire bikes in case they get stolen, we have $10-15K mountain bikes and e-mountain bikes for hire in the shop, one of our biggest worries is since people are only leaving a small security deposit in case of damages, someone could simply ride away with it and never come back, going home with a very "cheap" $10k bike. Not that it ever happened but we always wanted to add a tracker to them and this was the perfect solution, but if the tracker can be disabled but the user, it compeltely defeats the purpose.
 
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Apple's new AirTag item tracker lets you easily track things like your keys, wallet, purse, backpack, luggage, and more. AirTags have a small, circular design with a white side and a polished stainless steel side with an Apple logo.

Apple_airtag-front-and-back-emoji-2up_042021_big.jpg.large_.jpg

AirTag has been designed to discourage unwanted tracking. If you are an iPhone or iPad user, the built-in Find My app will notify you if an unknown AirTag is seen moving with you over time by displaying an "AirTag Found Moving With You" message on the screen. Even if you don't use an iOS device, an AirTag that isn't with the person who registered it for an extended period of time will play a sound when moved.

If an unknown AirTag is found to be moving with you, follow the steps below to disable the AirTag and stop sharing your location:
  1. Tap the "AirTag Found Moving With You" message.
  2. Tap on Continue.
  3. Tap on Instructions to Disable AirTag and follow the on-screen steps.
In a new support document, Apple says users who feel their safety is at risk should contact their local law enforcement, who can work with Apple. You might need to provide the AirTag or its serial number, according to Apple. If you need help finding the AirTag, tap Play Sound after tapping on the "AirTag Found Moving With You" message.

airtag-privacy.jpeg

If you find an AirTag or a lost item with an AirTag attached that has not been moving with you, follow the steps below to learn about the AirTag and how to discover information about its original owner.

  1. Tap and hold the top of your iPhone or other NFC-capable smartphone to the white side of the AirTag.
  2. Tap the notification that appears on your phone's screen. This will open a website that provides information about the AirTag, including its serial number.
  3. If the AirTag's owner marked it as lost, you might see a message with information about how to contact the owner. You can contact the owner to let them know that you found their AirTag if you feel comfortable doing so.
AirTags have unique Bluetooth identifiers that change frequently, which helps prevent you from being tracked from place to place, according to Apple. Apple says that no one, including Apple, knows the location or identity of any of the participating users or devices who help locate a missing AirTag.

For more information, read Apple's support document.

Article Link: How to Disable an Unknown AirTag Found Moving With You to Prevent Being Tracked
How would this work with my kids' bags whole they are at school?
 
so these airtags do not protect you from thieves? They are only for you to find which of your beds sucked your keys? Or for people who have alzheimer. And what about if i'm driving with a friend, can disable his/her airtags?
People with alzhimer probably will forget what that annoying beeping sound means...
 
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I’m very surprised Apple came out with this type product when privacy is so important. Tracking people with tags is not cool. This will be used against people in the wrong way. So now I need to be on the lookout for these buggers. 😂
 
AirTags are not intended as anti-theft devices. They’re for convenience tracking- there’s a difference.

There’s nothing to prevent a thief from rummaging through your bag and tossing your AirTag, or cutting off the fancy leather keychain your AirTag is in (which is exactly what they would do). You would have to actually build or stitch (hide) these into your personal belongings for it to have the sort of anti-theft effect you’re thinking of.
naturally, i wouldn't expect an airtag hanging on the outside of your bag to work as an anti-theft device — placing it discreetly inside your bag is what i'm thinking.
 
Some years ago, I flew from Narita (Japan) to Heathrow (London) via Moscow (Russia). En route, my suitcase went to Helsinki (Finland). If I’d attached an Air Tag to my suitcase, would I be able to locate it from London if it’s in Finland?
 
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Problem is with AirTags... and a huge flaw with them is... you can just remove the battery... this makes them a no from me, I was hoping to use them in things like a bag or wallet for theft reasons... but a removable battery destroys it being used for this purpose.
hm, don't you think removing the actual airtag(battery or not) would be what a potential thief would do?
 
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There’s nothing to prevent a thief from rummaging through your bag and tossing your AirTag, or cutting off the fancy leather keychain your AirTag is in (which is exactly what they would do).
but its rich corinthian leather stitched by the most adept child hands in most climate controlled of sweatshops.
at $500 per tag I believe a thief will only do the former and toss the tag
 
Hmm. They already said that the time until the Air Tags start making noise is about 3 days, after being separated from their owner's iPhone. (makes me wonder if proximity to the Watch will reset it).

We also haven't seen how Apple may make these useful for Family sharing. (so, the potential of being able to clip one of these to your kids backpack may still be an option).

They haven't said how long the "stalker-deterrent" feature needs before alerting people that they're being tracked. It's likely at least several hours. (to avoid false positives - also to not alert thieves)

For the theft tracking? You flag the tag as lost/stolen as soon as you notice the item is missing - that should (in theory) disable the "stalker-deterrent" feature, yet still allow you to track down the item.

We won't know all of the use cases until these get out in the wild and people start testing them. (and, then, if any of the usage is counter to Apple's PR engine, Apple can always change how things work in their code - server-side or in iOS).
 
From a realistic/pratical view it's all fine. With frinche cases where in most cases it will still work for the most part I really see not much of an issue.

From a legal perspective or immortal perspective it makes sense there's certain 'things' in place.
With antitheft in mind... well removing/destroying the airtag alone makes the being able to be disabled a pretty moot point.
 
i think this was explained, but what if someone stole your bag and then did this? wouldn't that defeat the purpose of having an airtag in it?
I thought of putting an Airtag in my bag. But...I thought if the bag is stolen then someone could easily remove the Airtag and then I am screwed. Right?
 
what if you dont have an iPhone? example, you put airtags secretly hidden to people who use android phones?
 
I thought of putting an Airtag in my bag. But...I thought if the bag is stolen then someone could easily remove the Airtag and then I am screwed. Right?
well, i think we're still trying to figure this out. how long is it before an 'unknown' airtag informs the person it's traveling with(in this case the thief) of it's presence. and also whether putting your tag in the 'lost' mode disables someone else's ability to disable it. what i'm hoping is that if it's hidden well enough, a thief will be a bit preoccupied with the getaway to do a proper tag search... :)
 
what are you asking exactly?..
Sounds like he wants to stalk some sexy green bubbles ;) ;)


honestly I think this is being very overblown, if someone wants to track someone else there are plenty of ways to get dedicated tracking devices on them.
The fact is most people aren’t a creep and it’s a non-issue, if your unfortunate to have a creep’s ire unfortunately they’ll find a way no matter what so just do your best knowing unfortunately ... so are they 😱
 
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Sounds like he wants to stalk some sexy green bubbles ;) ;)


honestly I think this is being very overblown, if someone wants to track someone else there are plenty of ways to get dedicated tracking devices on them.
The fact is most people aren’t creep and it’s a non-issue, if your unfortunate to have a creep’s ire unfortunately they’ll find a way no matter what so just do your best knowing unfortunately ... so are they 😱
but doesn't have an iphone)))

yea, that's what i said earlier in this thread — this will make it harder to track stolen devices, but stalkers will be fine without these tags...
 
Some years ago, I flew from Narita (Japan) to Heathrow (London) via Moscow (Russia). En route, my suitcase went to Helsinki (Finland). If I’d attached an Air Tag to my suitcase, would I be able to locate it from London if it’s in Finland?
Yes, this is exactly what it should do. People use other devices like tile for this purpose, but as it is reliant on someone having the tile app open (or at least it was when I looked a couple of years ago), they aren’t as reliable.

It is my main interest in airtags.

However, there are some concerns as to whether the privacy issue should become a problem. I suspect it will be ok, but will need to try it to see.
 
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This kind of limits the usefulness for me. I like to track a lot of stuff that isn't with me all the time. Like the remote to my TV. If I go traveling then I'm not bringing the remote with me and instead it will stay with my wife. Will it alert her that I'm tracking her as she picks it up and moves it around?

Also my checkbook. I keep a Tile in there now because I just don't carry the checkbook with me and I rarely need it and when I do I'm like "Where did I put it?"
 
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