Absolutely, yes! The more user choices there are, the better. And as I said(or at least meant to convey), the product isn't perfect (family sharing car keys anyone? ?). But it's infinitely better than other trackers on the market as the competition put zero effort into their products privacy-wise.
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Sale of 'Silent AirTags' on eBay and Etsy Raises Privacy Concerns
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Absolutely, yes! The more user choices there are, the better. And as I said(or at least meant to convey), the product isn't perfect (family sharing car keys anyone? ?). But it's infinitely better than other trackers on the market as the competition put zero effort into their products privacy-wise.
Wow this would be awesome. I keep bluetooth off 99% of the time on my iPhone due to the insanely high EMF it gives off from the U1 chip.
Every time I grab my keys, backpack, etc, those damn AirTags start chirping. Even after only a few hours of no connection. SO. ANNOYING. They used to only do it after 3 days but Apple had to go **** it up and update them to chirp all the time.
Every time I grab my keys, backpack, etc, those damn AirTags start chirping. Even after only a few hours of no connection. SO. ANNOYING. They used to only do it after 3 days but Apple had to go **** it up and update them to chirp all the time.
There are far cheaper ways to track people
Tracking Devices in Cell Phone Accessories - Walmart.com
Shop for Tracking Devices in Cell Phone Accessories. Buy products such as Life360 Tile Mate Bluetooth Tracker, Keys Finder and Item Locator for Keys, Bags and More. Phone Finder. Both iOS and Android Compatible. 1-Pack (Black) at Walmart and save.
www.walmart.com
There are far cheaper ways to track people
Tracking Devices in Cell Phone Accessories - Walmart.com
Shop for Tracking Devices in Cell Phone Accessories. Buy products such as Life360 Tile Mate Bluetooth Tracker, Keys Finder and Item Locator for Keys, Bags and More. Phone Finder. Both iOS and Android Compatible. 1-Pack (Black) at Walmart and save.www.walmart.com
I've admitted there are other ways
(few as discreet and long lasting on the battery as AirTags though..)
It's irrelevant to the concerns about Apple wanting to be in this market and forcing their whole user base to help maintain their "dragnet" --- only way to opt out is lose the ability to find your own phone (which doesn't need to know about other iOS devices)
At this point Apple need to stop selling airtags. It's only a matter of time until one is used in a rape or murder, which is a price far, far, far beyond finding lost keys.
I'm sure Apple's intentions were good when they designed them, but this product is simply too dangerous now.
I'm sure Apple's intentions were good when they designed them, but this product is simply too dangerous now.
How is one in a million Airtags being used to stalk someone a 'huge issue' while iPhones being used to shoot video up girls skirts rarely ever talked about? How about someone leaving an iPhone in a public bathroom and using an apple watch to start recording? I'm genuinely curious how the reasoning goes here. Why is the Airtag being rendered useless because of this very loud minority of people?
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This AirTag hate has to stop! If you want to “covertly track” someone there’s plenty of GPS trackers on the marketplace and always has been!
The nice thing is the iPhone already does that, it gives you direction & distance. No idea about the Android app. A GPS tracker being cheaper than these modified AirTags is an important fact to keep in mind as well.
What a ridiculous statement. I didn't see the outrage with Tile, and before you complain that Find My is a bigger network, where's all the concern about active trackers? Those can broadcast their location themselves and aren't that big. Where's the outrage to make Tile or any other tracker act like a frigging disco ball?
I personally want one that doesn't ding and doesn't tell everyone within a 4 block radius it's there. I want it to track anything that may end up stolen.
Better yet, put out a silent one, then sell a $129 Apple Tracker Checker that lets someone wand over their whole body to make sure someone hasn't rectally inserted one when they weren't looking.
THIS is why we can't have nice things. I don't like it, therefore everyone must hate it just like me, and if you don't, then you're wrong.
Sorry to let you down and thank your for your feedback
Apple opened it up so that Tile COULD use Apple’s Find My if they wanted (just like other third parties are releasing compatible hardware). Tile just wanted to extend their own network without having to use Find My, though).
It seems that a lot of proposed “issues” are due to people using Apple, but, at the same time, NOT wanting to use Apple. If a person doesn’t have an iPhone, then they don’t have to worry much about the ‘Tags or Find My at all.
If you don't have an iPhone, you have to worry much more. Because in order to know if an AirTag is tracking you on Android, you need a separate app. On iPhone it does it automatically. It's not Apple's fault that it's this way, since they don't control Android, but they should really work with Google on this. It's dangerous.
With the VAST number of trackers on every platform that sells them, it’s clear that the ONLY reason why this is even a story is because everyone with a website looking for eyeballs knows that a story that involves the Apple logo gets clicks. I COULD be wrong, but I would imagine that Tile would LOVE to be mentioned in at least one story… no, wait, they’ve given up and we’re bought out, right?
Can we get an opt out for those of us that don’t want to be part of their AirTag dragnet?
No, I mean if the main concern someone has is “I don’t want to share my location data with Apple”, then they don’t HAVE to, it just requires a decent amount of work intentionally not buying Apple hardware (even going as far as a non-Apple phone).
And this is actually an interesting point. If Apple became the NUMBER 1 tracking device, it by default makes EVERYONE safer because those other devices are nowhere near as traceable back to the owner (or just traceable period as in knowing that one is around you) as the Air Tags.
Opting out means “Apple doesn’t know where your device is”. So, Apple wouldn’t know where any of your devices are. BUT, you then want Apple to be able to tell you where your device is when they don’t have the information on where your device is?
I had a friend that was VERY adamant about having location services turned off. Then, would ask me why they weren’t getting the same local weather data that I was. And, wanted to know why my phone changed time zones automatically when flying but theirs didn’t.
All my other Apple devices either have a GPS built-in or a data connection where they can triangulate from.
“Find your device” was a feature before U1 chips or any third party device location crowdsourcing.
What they are doing to find AirTags is relatively new
Yeah, but they are physically much larger, requiring more power and bigger batteries. They also require an expensive subscription to connect to the GPS. The beauty of the AirTags is the low power, low range signal, that piggybacks off the network of people's iPhones (and without a subscription), rather than needing a high enough power antenna to connect to GPS. This is why people (including me) were excited about these being great for anti-theft devices, but then were disappointed to discover the anti-tracking measures ruined them as anti-theft devices.
Sure, it will silence it. However, anyone with an iPhone that is being "followed" by an AirTag will still be notified. Thus still useless as an anti-theft device.
Right, but, say you lose your device. How would you “find” it if your location is not being reported back to Apple? Find my Phone, Find My Friends, Find My Mac ALL worked because the device in question would send it’s information back to Apple so that Apple can provide you that information if you, say, log into iCloud and do Find My.
If the information never gets back to Apple, then when you log into iCloud it’s not going to have any information on where your device is. Your device will know PRECISELY where it is down to a few feet, I believe. But, your device knowing where IT is doesn’t help YOU if your device isn’t telling anyone ELSE where it is.
All trackers, not just AirTags, but the media’s disgusting fixation on just one product makes it seem that it’s the only one that can be used in this manner
Funny how so many whiny crybabies never said this about Tile over the years, and it can be used to stalk too