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I've got a tag on my bike and it's pretty dumb that it starts beeping at the thief if it ever gets stolen. Why do we have to gimp everything to make it difficul

by pkulak 5y ago

I've got a tag on my bike and it's pretty dumb that it starts beeping at the thief if it ever gets stolen. Why do we have to gimp everything to make it difficult to use them to break the law? Isn't enforcement of laws how we're supposed to make people not break the law?

RIMR 5y ago
The problem is that without the beep, these devices are no different than your standard GPS tracker that you could use to track someone without their consent. So it beeps so indemnify Apple from that use case. And for good reason. These devices are already getting popular with abusive spouses. It's worth planning for the worst case scenarios for these things, because they are real.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- asdff 5y ago
  Apple already sells a silent gps tracker: the iPhone. Realistically a piece of duct tape is all you need to put an iPhone under a car, then you can track it with Find My. This way would be better than using an airtag, since it wouldn't beep and I think it also wouldn't send a notification, but it gives you the same resolution (albeit shorter battery life).
  - lm28469 5y ago
    > Realistically a piece of duct tape is all you Realistically you have to be much more determined to buy an additional phone and another sim card + pay for the data vs simply using an airtag. If you're already that determined just buy a proper gps tracker. You'd also have to find a way to recharge the iphone constantly, problem that you wouldn't have with an airtag. An airtag is much easier to hide too (bags, clothes, ...) The fact that you can already track someone relatively easily doesn't mean that introducing a new small/cheap/easy to use tracking device is a good thing
  - watwut 5y ago
    Realistically, it is pretty expensive and the batteries will run out soon.
- mensetmanusman 5y ago
  Vinyl tape disables the beep, so it is kind of pointless.
TheSoftwareGuy 5y ago
>Isn't enforcement of laws how we're supposed to make people not break the law? It is the method of last resort, really. Ideally, people have enough success in their life that they do not have to resort to crime. If that fails we have some other protections: we lock our doors, etc. Lastly, if people still commit crime we try to prosecute them
bagacrap 5y ago
by this logic, why is there an airtag on your bike? Shouldn't law enforcement keep people from stealing it?
lm28469 5y ago
> I've got a tag on my bike and it's pretty dumb that it starts beeping at the thief if it ever gets stolen. It's not designed to be used like that > Why do we have to gimp everything to make it difficult to use them to break the law? Same reason you can't buy 1000kg of fertiliser at walmart, we don't wait for people to commit crime to do something.

by pkulak 5y ago

RIMR 5y ago

The problem is that without the beep, these devices are no different than your standard GPS tracker that you could use to track someone without their consent. So it beeps so indemnify Apple from that use case. And for good reason. These devices are already getting popular with abusive spouses. It's worth planning for the worst case scenarios for these things, because they are real.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
asdff 5y ago
Apple already sells a silent gps tracker: the iPhone. Realistically a piece of duct tape is all you need to put an iPhone under a car, then you can track it with Find My. This way would be better than using an airtag, since it wouldn't beep and I think it also wouldn't send a notification, but it gives you the same resolution (albeit shorter battery life).
- lm28469 5y ago
  > Realistically a piece of duct tape is all you Realistically you have to be much more determined to buy an additional phone and another sim card + pay for the data vs simply using an airtag. If you're already that determined just buy a proper gps tracker. You'd also have to find a way to recharge the iphone constantly, problem that you wouldn't have with an airtag. An airtag is much easier to hide too (bags, clothes, ...) The fact that you can already track someone relatively easily doesn't mean that introducing a new small/cheap/easy to use tracking device is a good thing
- watwut 5y ago
  Realistically, it is pretty expensive and the batteries will run out soon.
mensetmanusman 5y ago
Vinyl tape disables the beep, so it is kind of pointless.

TheSoftwareGuy 5y ago

>Isn't enforcement of laws how we're supposed to make people not break the law? It is the method of last resort, really. Ideally, people have enough success in their life that they do not have to resort to crime. If that fails we have some other protections: we lock our doors, etc. Lastly, if people still commit crime we try to prosecute them

bagacrap 5y ago

by this logic, why is there an airtag on your bike? Shouldn't law enforcement keep people from stealing it?

lm28469 5y ago

> I've got a tag on my bike and it's pretty dumb that it starts beeping at the thief if it ever gets stolen. It's not designed to be used like that > Why do we have to gimp everything to make it difficult to use them to break the law? Same reason you can't buy 1000kg of fertiliser at walmart, we don't wait for people to commit crime to do something.