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> “If you really are nefarious and evil and you really want to find someone, there are things that are much better than an AirTag” (...) While it's true that t
by probably_wrong 5y ago
> “If you really are nefarious and evil and you really want to find someone, there are things that are much better than an AirTag” (...)
While it's true that there are better ways to stalk people, I think an AirTag brings something to the table that wasn't there before: the normalization of having stalking hardware at hand.
Buying a "stalker kit" requires me to think long and hard about stalking someone. I need to make the decision, buy the hardware, wait for it to be delivered (or, alternatively, walk into the kind of store that sells spy equipment), create an opportunity, and go for it. Most well-adjusted people wouldn't go so far.
But once AirTags normalize having these things in your keychain all the time, the "entry barrier" for stalking is lowered. All it takes is one beer too much and a split-second decision.
- alex_duf 5y agoAlso it makes the justification of buying such a product much easier. "I need to track my backpack" is better accepted than "I need a GPS tracker to follow my ex partner". I do believe Apple opened a can of worms they shouldn't have, and that it's going to cause great distress to many people.
- diffeomorphism 5y agoApple opened? Weren't these trackers popular long before that, e.g. tile?
- syrrim 5y agoApple integrates it into their network of phones, such that they can reliably track someone everywhere they go. I don't think other market players are capable of that.
- Jtsummers 5y agoTile has "Tile Network" which is similar: https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/blog/what-is-tile-network-community-find-lost-stolen-far-away https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/blog/what-is-tile-network-c... That blog is from 2020, prior to the release (maybe not the announcement, though) of AirTags. It's also probably nowhere near as widespread as Apple's device network, but it does exist.
- Digory 5y agoAmazon’s Sidewalk network is backing Tile. All those Echoes, by default, are hardware trackers, too. Which is why Tile is much better in dense areas than it used to be.
- chuckSu 5y ago
- conk 5y ago
- cptskippy 5y agoOften the only thing preventing people from doing things is the barrier to entry.
- 7steps2much 5y agoDepends on how you define stalker honestly. They probably wouldn't be sitting in trees with binoculars or stuff like that, but they might slip airtags into people's stuff.
- sodkmfkwegw 5y agoWhat a dumb-ass comment. If we had normalized guns and everyone was carrying a gun everywhere, a few beers would likely result in many gunfights lol.
- immibis 5y agoin fact, one famous country did normalize them and does have many gunfights
- boffinism 5y agoThe point is that one beer to many turns a would-be stalker weirdo into a stalker weirdo if they already have the kit to hand.
- pessimizer 5y agoStalkers are regular people. What did you think they were?
- vmception 5y agoYes, normalizing has a lot of reverberations, a conspiracy charge couldn't be levied anymore because its a common combination of items. Whereas before you could easily have your freedom curbed by having your prior thoughts known in combination with buying the hardware. Ive seen people beat conspiracy charges on appeal but their freedom was still undermined along the way. Now having a bunch of airtags is benign.
- aserdf 5y agodemocratizing stalking since 2021™