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Every iPhone (and Android and dumbphone) was coopted into a global surveillance network from the very beginning.

Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
Previously, it didn't help random creeps to find home address of a girl he saw in a grocery store. Now, with AirTags it is rather trivial. Thanks, Apple.
- jdminhbg 5y ago
  So trivial it never happens.
  - wang_li 5y ago
    It was all over the tech news space back in November that a woman was alerted to one that was moving with her. Someone attached it to her car. And again in January. https://www.wbrc.com/2021/11/18/woman-discovers-tracking-device-her-vehicle-after-receiving-iphone-alert/ https://www.wbrc.com/2021/11/18/woman-discovers-tracking-dev... https://www.insideedition.com/atlanta-woman-cant-find-apple-airtag-on-her-car-thats-tracking-her-every-move-72629 https://www.insideedition.com/atlanta-woman-cant-find-apple-...
    - jdminhbg 5y ago
      You'll note that there's never ever a culprit in a single one of these stories, and nobody ever successfully carries out the crime by actually showing up to an apartment or cornering someone in their car. It's classic urban legend stuff. Would you expect people to sometimes get away with committing a crime like stalking? Yes. Would you expect every single person who commits stalking in this way to always, without exception, get away with it? Of course not. The parsimonious explanation is that the vast majority of these stories are simple misunderstandings, like someone accidentally dropping one somewhere.
      - Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
        > simple misunderstandings, like someone accidentally dropping one somewhere. The uniquity of technology gives real stalkers this nice excuse. How convenient!
        jdminhbg 5y ago
        Very convenient. So much so that there must be one story of someone actually being attacked rather than just finding an AirTag, right?
        Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
        So you are claiming that nobody of the attacked females were stalked and found using AirTags? https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/17272409/how-stay-safe-apple-airtags-stalking-you/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/17272409/how-stay-safe-apple-a... https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/20/apple-airtags-stalking-complaints-technology https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/20/apple-air... How many stalking victims never found out they are tracked because they used Android phones? How many perpetrators just covertly removed the AirTag after the attack? This device allows very clandestine surveillance by anyone.
        jdminhbg 5y ago
        Did you read those articles? Neither of them actually shows someone showing up in a location as a result of using AirTags to track someone. They show someone finding an AirTag that wasn't theirs. I'm willing to grant that the number of people caught would be lower than the number of people who were actually successful -- we don't catch every murderer, for example. But isn't there one, just one, example of someone actually showing up? Nobody ever gets caught? Like I said, this is classic urban legend material.
- michaelt 5y ago
  To be fair to Apple, products like [1] - a battery-powered GPS tracker with mobile data connection - have been available for 10+ years. A 5-day battery life is useless for keeping track of your bicycle, but more than enough for a stalker to find someone's home. Of course, they were much less widely reported on by the press - so perhaps less known by stalkers? And only available via ebay, not off-the-shelf in reputable retailers. [1] https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304109556891 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304109556891
- imwillofficial 5y ago
  It’s been trivial for decades. That’s not on apple.

Previously, it didn't help random creeps to find home address of a girl he saw in a grocery store. Now, with AirTags it is rather trivial. Thanks, Apple.

jdminhbg 5y ago
So trivial it never happens.
- wang_li 5y ago
  It was all over the tech news space back in November that a woman was alerted to one that was moving with her. Someone attached it to her car. And again in January. https://www.wbrc.com/2021/11/18/woman-discovers-tracking-device-her-vehicle-after-receiving-iphone-alert/ https://www.wbrc.com/2021/11/18/woman-discovers-tracking-dev... https://www.insideedition.com/atlanta-woman-cant-find-apple-airtag-on-her-car-thats-tracking-her-every-move-72629 https://www.insideedition.com/atlanta-woman-cant-find-apple-...
  - jdminhbg 5y ago
    You'll note that there's never ever a culprit in a single one of these stories, and nobody ever successfully carries out the crime by actually showing up to an apartment or cornering someone in their car. It's classic urban legend stuff. Would you expect people to sometimes get away with committing a crime like stalking? Yes. Would you expect every single person who commits stalking in this way to always, without exception, get away with it? Of course not. The parsimonious explanation is that the vast majority of these stories are simple misunderstandings, like someone accidentally dropping one somewhere.
    - Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
      > simple misunderstandings, like someone accidentally dropping one somewhere. The uniquity of technology gives real stalkers this nice excuse. How convenient!
      - jdminhbg 5y ago
        Very convenient. So much so that there must be one story of someone actually being attacked rather than just finding an AirTag, right?
        Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
        So you are claiming that nobody of the attacked females were stalked and found using AirTags? https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/17272409/how-stay-safe-apple-airtags-stalking-you/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/17272409/how-stay-safe-apple-a... https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/20/apple-airtags-stalking-complaints-technology https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/20/apple-air... How many stalking victims never found out they are tracked because they used Android phones? How many perpetrators just covertly removed the AirTag after the attack? This device allows very clandestine surveillance by anyone.
        jdminhbg 5y ago
        Did you read those articles? Neither of them actually shows someone showing up in a location as a result of using AirTags to track someone. They show someone finding an AirTag that wasn't theirs. I'm willing to grant that the number of people caught would be lower than the number of people who were actually successful -- we don't catch every murderer, for example. But isn't there one, just one, example of someone actually showing up? Nobody ever gets caught? Like I said, this is classic urban legend material.
michaelt 5y ago
To be fair to Apple, products like [1] - a battery-powered GPS tracker with mobile data connection - have been available for 10+ years. A 5-day battery life is useless for keeping track of your bicycle, but more than enough for a stalker to find someone's home. Of course, they were much less widely reported on by the press - so perhaps less known by stalkers? And only available via ebay, not off-the-shelf in reputable retailers. [1] https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304109556891 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304109556891
imwillofficial 5y ago
It’s been trivial for decades. That’s not on apple.