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Some of the comments in this thread point to violent stories beginning with these types of trackers. I don’t think we’ll hear about comparatively dramatic happy

Some of the comments in this thread point to violent stories beginning with these types of trackers. I don’t think we’ll hear about comparatively dramatic happy endings facilitated by quick geolocation. Your examples. Thwarted child abductions, via a tracker in a car seat. Critical medicine shipments. I’d argue these are a boon for ordinary people. And ordinary people with some geolocation info who need help from the authorities. And prosecutors following the owner of a discovered tracker.

giaour 4y ago
I’m sorry to be blunt, but unless you have specific reasons to be concerned about custodial kidnapping, “foil baby snatchers by putting an AirTag in your car seat” is nonsense. So is using this form of consumer tech for shipment tracking, for that matter. More robust trackers have long been in widespread use by the shipping industry.
- ttyprintk 4y ago
  Maybe people arrive at specific reasons before they decide to use an airtag? “Unless you have specific reasons” is only reassuring the kinds of people who don’t.
  - giaour 4y ago
    The scenario in which an AirTag in a car seat would help prevent a child abduction is extremely specific: the child would have to already be in the car seat and not subsequently moved therefrom, and one or more of the kidnappers would need to have their iPhones on (since the tag uses the network connections of nearby iDevices), in service range, and either not trigger or ignore anti-stalking alerts. I can kinda see how those requirements might fit a custodial kidnapping, but only if the partner didn’t know about the tags. Stranger kidnappings (which are very rare anyway) would likely not. A GPS tracker with a cell connection would serve you much better in either scenario. Those are less popular with criminals because they can often be traced back to the purchaser, but they are more reliable and won’t accidentally alert the kidnappers because they tripped an anti-stalking monitor.

giaour 4y ago

I’m sorry to be blunt, but unless you have specific reasons to be concerned about custodial kidnapping, “foil baby snatchers by putting an AirTag in your car seat” is nonsense. So is using this form of consumer tech for shipment tracking, for that matter. More robust trackers have long been in widespread use by the shipping industry.

ttyprintk 4y ago
Maybe people arrive at specific reasons before they decide to use an airtag? “Unless you have specific reasons” is only reassuring the kinds of people who don’t.
- giaour 4y ago
  The scenario in which an AirTag in a car seat would help prevent a child abduction is extremely specific: the child would have to already be in the car seat and not subsequently moved therefrom, and one or more of the kidnappers would need to have their iPhones on (since the tag uses the network connections of nearby iDevices), in service range, and either not trigger or ignore anti-stalking alerts. I can kinda see how those requirements might fit a custodial kidnapping, but only if the partner didn’t know about the tags. Stranger kidnappings (which are very rare anyway) would likely not. A GPS tracker with a cell connection would serve you much better in either scenario. Those are less popular with criminals because they can often be traced back to the purchaser, but they are more reliable and won’t accidentally alert the kidnappers because they tripped an anti-stalking monitor.