5 ms·

A whole lot of people are going to be doing experiments like this and all of them are going to find out just how little the police care about their stolen prope

A whole lot of people are going to be doing experiments like this and all of them are going to find out just how little the police care about their stolen property. iPhone users automatically receive a push notification if an unknown Airtag has been “following” them, without its owner, for a random time between 8 and 24 hours. Wouldn't this be a pain in the ass if you took a long flight and happened to sit near an air tag in cargo while its owner was on the other end of the plane?

tolmasky 5y ago
Forget that, it’s a huge pain on a weekly basis when I go on a walk with my significant other and my iPhone reports that the one in her wallet is following me. It’s a horrible UX that in classic Apple fashion has no concept of family and also breaks one of the AirTag’s key features. You should basically only rely on AirTags to find your keys at home.
- SilverRed 5y ago
  There is a button on that screen to ignore the airtag and it will never alert you again for that particular tag. Apple cant solve the fact you didn't read the small amount of text on the page.
  - tolmasky 5y ago
    It's been reported that this option is not presented to everyone. (I do however get the option to disable Safety Alerts for all AirTags though, which isn't really what I want). Next time I get it I'll try tapping again to see if anything got kicked into place with 14.7.1.
    - top_kekeroni_m8 5y ago
      If the other user is in your Apple Family you will be presented the "ignore forever" option. Otherwise you can only ignore the AirTag for 24 hours. Very Apple of Apple. Terrible design.
- eigen 5y ago
  What to do if you find an AirTag or get an alert that an AirTag is with you https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227 To disable the AirTag and stop sharing your location, tap Instructions to Disable AirTag and follow the onscreen steps.
  - SilverRed 5y ago
    "Disabling it" is just an animation that shows you how to pull the battery out of the tag. Likely not what they want to do.
- partsKnown 5y ago
  Why say, "significant other" then refer to her as female? Why not just say girlfriend like a normal human being?
- spideymans 5y ago
  That's interesting. You shouldn't be getting those alerts, assuming she has an iPhone, Apple Watch or any other Apple device with her at the time. AirTags will not send that "following" notification if any of the owner's devices are nearby. In any case there is an option to disable the alerts for that AirTag when you receive the notification.
- ewindal 5y ago
  The least believable part of that complaint is that you and your SO go on _walks_ that are more than 8 hours long.
  - frosted-flakes 5y ago
    It's not believable that someone is with someone they live with for more than 8 hours?
  - tolmasky 5y ago
    I spend most of my day with her... Also, perhaps their software is (I know, hard to believe) buggy? Either way, not sure what to tell you, this is what I see: https://twitter.com/tolmasky/status/1408946076531441664 https://twitter.com/tolmasky/status/1408946076531441664 I believe the reason this happens at the end of a walk is because it specifically fires off when you enter your own home (either geofence of detection of your home WiFi or something). So it's probably accumulating throughout the day, then we go out, come back, and it shows it.
dlgeek 5y ago
So if you want to stalk someone, just make sure they run Android?
- someperson 5y ago
  So the easiest and most robust way to protect yourself from somebody using the relatively cheap tracker Apple created is to buy a comparatively expensive Apple product? That really feels like a shakedown.
- sharken 5y ago
  No, Apple made some changes to mitigate that problem. > An AirTag will beep at a random time between eight and 24 hours if it is away from its owner's iPhone. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57351554 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57351554
  - SilverRed 5y ago
    You can basically just wrap the tag in tape and the beep becomes almost silent. Any pressure stops it sounding. But its at least some effort which is more than tile and other competitors did. Ideally Google and Apple could work together to make safety alerts work for everyone.
    - pjerem 5y ago
      There are even already explanations all across the internet on how to drill precisely through it to damage the speaker.
      - pushrax 5y ago
        I’m sure you can also find instructions on how to make a DIY tracker that’s even more effective for stalking.
        gameman144 5y ago
        I'm not actually sure that you could, AirTags are so cheap and easy because they can tap into the huge network effects of Apple products for free.
SilverRed 5y ago
Sounds like the police were not aware of the tech in use and figured it was a lost cause like most theft.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  Is the average cop that old?
  - spideymans 5y ago
    I'd wager the average person has no idea what an AirTag is.
    - varajelle 5y ago
      I had no idea before seeing this thread. I had to look it up.
    - dzhiurgis 5y ago
      Surely average cop should be at least somewhat above average person.
      - thaumasiotes 5y ago
        The organization that fought for the right to refuse to hire people above a certain IQ cutoff?
- joshstrange 5y ago
  Nah, Cops are useless even for things that are a decade old like Find My iPhone, they simply won't help even if you can give them the exact lat/long or address. I've dealt with cops when helping a friend who was being harassed (literal 100s of calls/texts a day from known burner apps) as well as physical damage to his car. The police did nothing at all, even with a step-by-step guide provided by said burner number apps for law enforcement (abuse@$burnerAppCompany.com). In the end we had to keep pressing the various app's support until they would blacklist my friends number completely from their app network. It was a huge PITA and made my friend's phone almost unusable (they would rotate numbers if he blocked them). Oh, and we knew exactly who was responsible, this wasn't even a "here is a lat/long" situation. The police are fucking worthless for things like this and from what I've heard from friends about their experience with stolen property they are useless on that front as well.
smoldesu 5y ago
Yep. This guy's lucky he has a considerable Twitter following and can get a replacement, not everyone has that kind of privilege.
- aerosmile 5y ago
  Throwing the term privilege at every occasion you can will ruin any chance we have at removing real privilege from our society.
  - xmprt 5y ago
    I think it's possible to acknowledge that there are different levels of privilege.
- X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
  Pretty sure it's not his twitter following that could get him a replacement
axaxs 5y ago
Yeah...I was surprised the cops helped at all. My dad has many high end game/trail cameras. One of his went missing, so he checked the others and found clear as day video of the neighbor trespassing and stealing it. Took it to the cops, and they acted annoyed and told him to just sue. I was in disbelief.
- hellbannedguy 5y ago
  Granted cops shouid be doing more than Revenue Collection. (In Marin County, we have zero crime in most twowns, but they are ticket happy, and it's irritating.) That said, I'm glad the cop didn't arrest the neighbor. Unless you have footage of the heighbor removing the camera, it's not cut and dry. I would take the neighbor to small chains court, but then you have to live next to guy with a grudge? A guy with a grudge can make your life miserable.
  - justin66 5y ago
    > so he checked the others and found clear as day video of the neighbor trespassing and stealing it.
  - josephg 5y ago
    The "grudge with the neighbor" ship sailed the moment his neighbor stole his stuff. Enabling petty theft encourages it. If your neighbor stole one thing this time and got away with it, who knows what he'll be stealing next time.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    > I'm glad the cop didn't arrest the neighbor. Unless you have footage of the heighbor removing the camera, it's not cut and dry. >> One of his went missing, so he checked the others and found clear as day video of the neighbor trespassing and stealing it.
  - jjav 5y ago
    > Unless you have footage of the heighbor removing the camera, That's exactly what the OP said they had.
pjmlp 5y ago
Indeed, my girlfriend's motorbike was stolen, parked nearby to a police station, and the police station surveillance cameras even had the whole scene in their footage. To this day she is waiting to get any news from it, case closed and archived.

tolmasky 5y ago

Forget that, it’s a huge pain on a weekly basis when I go on a walk with my significant other and my iPhone reports that the one in her wallet is following me. It’s a horrible UX that in classic Apple fashion has no concept of family and also breaks one of the AirTag’s key features. You should basically only rely on AirTags to find your keys at home.

SilverRed 5y ago
There is a button on that screen to ignore the airtag and it will never alert you again for that particular tag. Apple cant solve the fact you didn't read the small amount of text on the page.
- tolmasky 5y ago
  It's been reported that this option is not presented to everyone. (I do however get the option to disable Safety Alerts for all AirTags though, which isn't really what I want). Next time I get it I'll try tapping again to see if anything got kicked into place with 14.7.1.
  - top_kekeroni_m8 5y ago
    If the other user is in your Apple Family you will be presented the "ignore forever" option. Otherwise you can only ignore the AirTag for 24 hours. Very Apple of Apple. Terrible design.
eigen 5y ago
What to do if you find an AirTag or get an alert that an AirTag is with you https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227 To disable the AirTag and stop sharing your location, tap Instructions to Disable AirTag and follow the onscreen steps.
- SilverRed 5y ago
  "Disabling it" is just an animation that shows you how to pull the battery out of the tag. Likely not what they want to do.
partsKnown 5y ago
Why say, "significant other" then refer to her as female? Why not just say girlfriend like a normal human being?
spideymans 5y ago
That's interesting. You shouldn't be getting those alerts, assuming she has an iPhone, Apple Watch or any other Apple device with her at the time. AirTags will not send that "following" notification if any of the owner's devices are nearby. In any case there is an option to disable the alerts for that AirTag when you receive the notification.
ewindal 5y ago
The least believable part of that complaint is that you and your SO go on _walks_ that are more than 8 hours long.
- frosted-flakes 5y ago
  It's not believable that someone is with someone they live with for more than 8 hours?
- tolmasky 5y ago
  I spend most of my day with her... Also, perhaps their software is (I know, hard to believe) buggy? Either way, not sure what to tell you, this is what I see: https://twitter.com/tolmasky/status/1408946076531441664 https://twitter.com/tolmasky/status/1408946076531441664 I believe the reason this happens at the end of a walk is because it specifically fires off when you enter your own home (either geofence of detection of your home WiFi or something). So it's probably accumulating throughout the day, then we go out, come back, and it shows it.

dlgeek 5y ago

So if you want to stalk someone, just make sure they run Android?

someperson 5y ago
So the easiest and most robust way to protect yourself from somebody using the relatively cheap tracker Apple created is to buy a comparatively expensive Apple product? That really feels like a shakedown.
sharken 5y ago
No, Apple made some changes to mitigate that problem. > An AirTag will beep at a random time between eight and 24 hours if it is away from its owner's iPhone. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57351554 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57351554
- SilverRed 5y ago
  You can basically just wrap the tag in tape and the beep becomes almost silent. Any pressure stops it sounding. But its at least some effort which is more than tile and other competitors did. Ideally Google and Apple could work together to make safety alerts work for everyone.
  - pjerem 5y ago
    There are even already explanations all across the internet on how to drill precisely through it to damage the speaker.
    - pushrax 5y ago
      I’m sure you can also find instructions on how to make a DIY tracker that’s even more effective for stalking.
      - gameman144 5y ago
        I'm not actually sure that you could, AirTags are so cheap and easy because they can tap into the huge network effects of Apple products for free.

SilverRed 5y ago

Sounds like the police were not aware of the tech in use and figured it was a lost cause like most theft.

MattGaiser 5y ago
Is the average cop that old?
- spideymans 5y ago
  I'd wager the average person has no idea what an AirTag is.
  - varajelle 5y ago
    I had no idea before seeing this thread. I had to look it up.
  - dzhiurgis 5y ago
    Surely average cop should be at least somewhat above average person.
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      The organization that fought for the right to refuse to hire people above a certain IQ cutoff?
joshstrange 5y ago
Nah, Cops are useless even for things that are a decade old like Find My iPhone, they simply won't help even if you can give them the exact lat/long or address. I've dealt with cops when helping a friend who was being harassed (literal 100s of calls/texts a day from known burner apps) as well as physical damage to his car. The police did nothing at all, even with a step-by-step guide provided by said burner number apps for law enforcement (abuse@$burnerAppCompany.com). In the end we had to keep pressing the various app's support until they would blacklist my friends number completely from their app network. It was a huge PITA and made my friend's phone almost unusable (they would rotate numbers if he blocked them). Oh, and we knew exactly who was responsible, this wasn't even a "here is a lat/long" situation. The police are fucking worthless for things like this and from what I've heard from friends about their experience with stolen property they are useless on that front as well.

smoldesu 5y ago

Yep. This guy's lucky he has a considerable Twitter following and can get a replacement, not everyone has that kind of privilege.

aerosmile 5y ago
Throwing the term privilege at every occasion you can will ruin any chance we have at removing real privilege from our society.
- xmprt 5y ago
  I think it's possible to acknowledge that there are different levels of privilege.
X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
Pretty sure it's not his twitter following that could get him a replacement

axaxs 5y ago

Yeah...I was surprised the cops helped at all. My dad has many high end game/trail cameras. One of his went missing, so he checked the others and found clear as day video of the neighbor trespassing and stealing it. Took it to the cops, and they acted annoyed and told him to just sue. I was in disbelief.

hellbannedguy 5y ago
Granted cops shouid be doing more than Revenue Collection. (In Marin County, we have zero crime in most twowns, but they are ticket happy, and it's irritating.) That said, I'm glad the cop didn't arrest the neighbor. Unless you have footage of the heighbor removing the camera, it's not cut and dry. I would take the neighbor to small chains court, but then you have to live next to guy with a grudge? A guy with a grudge can make your life miserable.
- justin66 5y ago
  > so he checked the others and found clear as day video of the neighbor trespassing and stealing it.
- josephg 5y ago
  The "grudge with the neighbor" ship sailed the moment his neighbor stole his stuff. Enabling petty theft encourages it. If your neighbor stole one thing this time and got away with it, who knows what he'll be stealing next time.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  > I'm glad the cop didn't arrest the neighbor. Unless you have footage of the heighbor removing the camera, it's not cut and dry. >> One of his went missing, so he checked the others and found clear as day video of the neighbor trespassing and stealing it.
- jjav 5y ago
  > Unless you have footage of the heighbor removing the camera, That's exactly what the OP said they had.

pjmlp 5y ago

Indeed, my girlfriend's motorbike was stolen, parked nearby to a police station, and the police station surveillance cameras even had the whole scene in their footage. To this day she is waiting to get any news from it, case closed and archived.