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Out of curiosity, anyone has an idea of the technology involved: >Oakland Deputy Chief of Police Drennon Lindsey told the station that residents should be awar
by jaclaz 5y ago
Out of curiosity, anyone has an idea of the technology involved:
>Oakland Deputy Chief of Police Drennon Lindsey told the station that residents should be aware that some thieves have technology that enables them to locate items like laptops if left hidden in an unattended vehicle.
I mean x-ray visors or what?
- ganoushoreilly 5y agoThis could be a generic claim, but some devices are detectible in low power mode via BTLE / Wifi emissions. I would generalize though that this is more a scare comment for people not to leave valuables in the car.
- gnu8 5y agoHomeless drug addicts don’t have BTLE sniffing equipment. It is more likely techbros looking for laptops with valuable information on them.
- ganoushoreilly 5y agoOh I agree I think it’s just to scare people into thinking about leaving stuff.
- gpsx 5y agoI have been warned of this before. Technically it seems easy enough. I do not treat it as a scare tactic but would be interested in hearing opinions on it from others.
- jaclaz 5y agoA whole new market is created (out of nothing) for Faraday bags?
- ganoushoreilly 5y agoThe easiest response is just don’t leave valuables in the car. Otherwise 100% expect you are tracked for advertising purposes in stores via fingerprinting. Have been for years.
- ErikCorry 5y agoA hand-held hammer. You hold it up to the car window, then break the glass with a sharp tap. Reach in and flip down the back seat. Then you can see what's in the trunk. Not as high-tech as you were imagining, but it does enable you "to locate items like laptops left hidden in an unattended vehicle".
- jaclaz 5y agoWell, that is low-tech and I believe its usage is independent from an item like a laptop being or not being present. BTW breaking a car glass with a hammer is not as easy as you may think, you need a very, very sharp point to break it, a spring loaded device would be much more effective: https://newsroom.aaa.com/2019/07/vehicle-escape-tools-testing/ https://newsroom.aaa.com/2019/07/vehicle-escape-tools-testin...
- ErikCorry 5y ago> Well, that is low-tech and I believe its usage is > independent from an item like a laptop being or not being present Any device you use to detect the laptop gets used whether or not the laptop is present.
- jaclaz 5y agoSure, but I thought that the reference was that of a non-destructive test, otherwise the Police advice becomes "obvious". I read it as: "do not leave laptops in cars, because those cars, thanks to the advanced technology some thieves possess, are more likely to have their windows broken (and the laptop stolen)" maybe it was to be read as: "do not leave laptops in cars, because ALL cars will have their windows broken, but if there is no laptop inside, it won't be stolen"
- dragonwriter 5y agoI am assuming its something related to the magic fentanyl police keep spreading propaganda about, often with elaborate cosplay. Police scare tactics (and the the scare tactics of the various—disproportionately right-wing extremist—snake oil peddlers police employ as consultants about the vast array of things they don't understand) often have very tenuous, if any, relation to facts.