9 ms·

I like the functionality of the AirTags so I don't want them nerfed, but I can think of no way to fix their fundamental problem of being such easy to use stalki

by todd8 5y ago

I like the functionality of the AirTags so I don't want them nerfed, but I can think of no way to fix their fundamental problem of being such easy to use stalking devices. Chefs knives are great for cooking and are inexpensive and easy to purchase; they can be very dangerous weapons in the wrong hands so we make it against the law to use them in that manner. Maybe that's the best we can do with AirTags.

sixothree 5y ago
What's different from a thief stealing my bag and carrying it around in their car versus me putting an airtag in the exact same location without them knowing? If a thief has my bag I definitely don't want them knowing they're being tracked. Maybe I don't quite understand something about this announcement.
- dharmab 5y ago
  Were AirTags ever marketed as theft recovery devices? Or only as a lost and found system?
  - sixothree 5y ago
    For the user, there's little difference.
- tshaddox 5y ago
  It’s honestly pretty silly to expect to track down thieves because they stole something with a tracking device in it. Are you really going to chase a thief and confront them? Do you really think the police are going to do it for you?
  - w0mbat 5y ago
    It is entirely reasonable to expect the police to recover stolen high value items whose location is known. Particuarly if the items were obtained with violence or weapons.
  - NavinF 5y ago
    Yeah the police do exactly that. When my father’s Android was stolen we called the cops and they told us to the park a block away from the thief’s house (last ping from Find My Device) and wait for them. They took a report from us, confronted the thief at his house, and got the phone back. The thief claimed that he found it at the post office and intended to return it, but the phone was in airplane mode (accessible from the lock screen) so that was clearly never gonna happen. This was in San Jose.
chroma 5y ago
> Chefs knives are great for cooking and are inexpensive and easy to purchase; they can be very dangerous weapons in the wrong hands so we make it against the law to use them in that manner. What? I've lived in several western countries and I've never had a knife purchase that was tracked or controlled in some way. There's only one place I know of that controls ownership of chef's knives: the Xinjiang region of China.[1] 1. https://twitter.com/joshchin/status/943159015994880000 https://twitter.com/joshchin/status/943159015994880000
- missedthecue 5y ago
  I believe he's saying that stabbing someone is illegal
  - chroma 5y ago
    Current stalking laws already cover such abuses of airtags. I see quite a few comments in this thread proposing a total ban of airtags, which makes about as much sense to me as wanting to restrict chef knives.
    - missedthecue 5y ago
      I don't think he was prescribing new laws, only saying that the status quo is the closest we can get.
    - Godel_unicode 5y ago
      That is the exact point the comment you replied to was making.
  - tshaddox 5y ago
    Killing someone with a nuclear bomb is illegal too but it’s also illegal for you to buy a nuclear bomb.
- thomasguide 5y ago
  Knife purchases are controlled in the U.K.[1] Persons under 18 are not allowed to buy knives, but in practice this means most people are showing an ID to purchase a knife. [1] https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives
bee_rider 5y ago
From the link: > Precision Finding: This capability allows recipients of an unwanted tracking alert to locate an unknown AirTag with precision. iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 users will be able to use Precision Finding to see the distance and direction to an unknown AirTag when it is in range. As an iPhone user moves, Precision Finding fuses input from the camera, ARKit, accelerometer, and gyroscope to guide them to the AirTag through a combination of sound, haptics, and visual feedback. I guess this probably only works for people who have iPhones, but it still at least makes tracking somebody using an AirTag a somewhat risky proposition (for example, if a person is stalking somebody using this technology and knows their target has a non-iPhone, they never know if that person might have a friend with an iPhone).

by todd8 5y ago

sixothree 5y ago

What's different from a thief stealing my bag and carrying it around in their car versus me putting an airtag in the exact same location without them knowing? If a thief has my bag I definitely don't want them knowing they're being tracked. Maybe I don't quite understand something about this announcement.

dharmab 5y ago
Were AirTags ever marketed as theft recovery devices? Or only as a lost and found system?
- sixothree 5y ago
  For the user, there's little difference.
tshaddox 5y ago
It’s honestly pretty silly to expect to track down thieves because they stole something with a tracking device in it. Are you really going to chase a thief and confront them? Do you really think the police are going to do it for you?
- w0mbat 5y ago
  It is entirely reasonable to expect the police to recover stolen high value items whose location is known. Particuarly if the items were obtained with violence or weapons.
- NavinF 5y ago
  Yeah the police do exactly that. When my father’s Android was stolen we called the cops and they told us to the park a block away from the thief’s house (last ping from Find My Device) and wait for them. They took a report from us, confronted the thief at his house, and got the phone back. The thief claimed that he found it at the post office and intended to return it, but the phone was in airplane mode (accessible from the lock screen) so that was clearly never gonna happen. This was in San Jose.

chroma 5y ago

> Chefs knives are great for cooking and are inexpensive and easy to purchase; they can be very dangerous weapons in the wrong hands so we make it against the law to use them in that manner. What? I've lived in several western countries and I've never had a knife purchase that was tracked or controlled in some way. There's only one place I know of that controls ownership of chef's knives: the Xinjiang region of China.[1] 1. https://twitter.com/joshchin/status/943159015994880000 https://twitter.com/joshchin/status/943159015994880000

missedthecue 5y ago
I believe he's saying that stabbing someone is illegal
- chroma 5y ago
  Current stalking laws already cover such abuses of airtags. I see quite a few comments in this thread proposing a total ban of airtags, which makes about as much sense to me as wanting to restrict chef knives.
  - missedthecue 5y ago
    I don't think he was prescribing new laws, only saying that the status quo is the closest we can get.
  - Godel_unicode 5y ago
    That is the exact point the comment you replied to was making.
- tshaddox 5y ago
  Killing someone with a nuclear bomb is illegal too but it’s also illegal for you to buy a nuclear bomb.
thomasguide 5y ago
Knife purchases are controlled in the U.K.[1] Persons under 18 are not allowed to buy knives, but in practice this means most people are showing an ID to purchase a knife. [1] https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

bee_rider 5y ago

From the link: > Precision Finding: This capability allows recipients of an unwanted tracking alert to locate an unknown AirTag with precision. iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 users will be able to use Precision Finding to see the distance and direction to an unknown AirTag when it is in range. As an iPhone user moves, Precision Finding fuses input from the camera, ARKit, accelerometer, and gyroscope to guide them to the AirTag through a combination of sound, haptics, and visual feedback. I guess this probably only works for people who have iPhones, but it still at least makes tracking somebody using an AirTag a somewhat risky proposition (for example, if a person is stalking somebody using this technology and knows their target has a non-iPhone, they never know if that person might have a friend with an iPhone).