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Airtags are explicitly not meant to track people. Apple goes out of their way to ensure them and their accessory partners do not advertise them being on a perso

by judge2020 4y ago

Airtags are explicitly not meant to track people. Apple goes out of their way to ensure them and their accessory partners do not advertise them being on a person regardless of age or relation to the airtag owner. But that's the thing with technology, isn't it? New tech comes out, companies do the right thing, but the freedom of the technology itself enables bad actors to abuse or repurpose the technology. For example: With advancements in robotic technology, Boston Dynamics' policy to blacklist anyone who puts a gun on their dog does nothing when chinese companies are already selling it as a feature. You have to note that AirTags are not new. Tile has been around for a while and, if you live in a city, there was a high likelihood someone also has a tile and would be a beacon for your tile's pings, and Tile makes no attempt at preventing human tracking. This isn't a tech being normalized, it already is normalized and has been for a decade. Just as you can be a proponent of advancements in robotics technology while being against their use in war, you can be against anyone recommending 24/7 tracking of humans.

thefz 4y ago
> Airtags are explicitly not meant to track people. Apple goes out of their way The amount of Apple apologism in this site makes me think sometimes. They "went out of their way" by releasing a dumb Android app which everyone should have to install and know it exists as a band-aid after their technology has been shown to be used to harm and abuse people. They know airtags can be used for crime and don't care.
- pretext-1 4y ago
  > They know airtags can be used for crime and don't care. So can iPhones. Or Androids. Or ski masks, lock picks, tape. Should we stop selling useful items when they can be abused? Apple did way more to stop the abuse of AirTags than the competition and I don't see anyone complaining about Tile. Almost any tool can be abused or used to hurt someone. Stop trying to shift the blame from the perpetrator to the tool being used. Also: funny how the US doesn't ban guns even though they were literally invented to kill people but now fight about AirTags.
  - thefz 4y ago
    > Should we stop selling useful items when they can be abused? No. My points above are: 1: people go out of their way to excuse Apple of any wrongoding, part of it is because of the "cult", part of it because Apple is very good at PR and painting themselves always in a good light 2: Apple has, as usual, done the bare minimum to arginate the problem and hand-waved at it.-
    - judge2020 4y ago
      And yet GPS trackers people can slap on cars have been a thing for over 2 decades. My point in the second paragraph is that regardless of how good or bad the safeguards the big company implements are, someone will be able to either abuse it or repurpose/reimplement the technology to perform malicious acts.
    - kjreact 4y ago
      Likewise some people go out of their way to disparage Apple because they belong to the anti-“cult”. Comment histories can be damning… Maybe adding something useful to the conversation by recommending a possible solution to the problem that Apple could implement to alleviate the problems would be more constructive? Here let me start such a conversation: Apple could spearhead a standard to make their trackers communicate with surrounding devices and allow blocking to occur if someone doesn’t want to be tracked. But on the flip side the blocker is then recorded by a central authority to prevent bad actors from stealing and blocking tracking.
      - thefz 4y ago
        > Maybe adding something useful to the conversation by recommending a possible solution to the problem that Apple could implement to alleviate the problems would be more constructive? My solution is: stop buying devices made to violate their users' privacy. Good job on investigating my thoughts digging up my very public comment section, though. I am impressed.
        skyyler 4y ago
markdown 4y ago
> it already is normalized and has been for a decade In use isn't the same as normalised.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
aliqot 4y ago
> Airtags are explicitly not meant to track people. Apple goes out of their way to ensure them and their accessory partners do not advertise them being on a person regardless of age or relation to the airtag owner. In this same spirit, gun ads don't have intruders being arbitrated in the ads. Why would Apple display people being tracked? reply
- Quikinterp 4y ago
  I have never seen an ad for a gun of any kind. Off topic I know. But I didn't realise that until now. Do Americans have ads for guns anywhere? I've never seen it
  - aliqot 4y ago
    You'll see advertisements for guns and ammo on what we call 'billboards' on the road (it's an advertisement on a flat surface about 30ft long I'd estimate, and maybe 10ft high. usually along the highways). We also get these ads in the marketing flyers you get in the mail, or see them in magazine print ads. Gun ownership here is a bit more of a formalized process, so in general if you're clear to purchase one we'll trust you with a firearm, with few exceptions. The background check has a finite window after which it fails open, then if there is a rejection after the fact, an agency will show up to collect the firearm. I could buy a shotgun while shopping for grocery items in the same store [0]. Also, the place up the road that sells fishing bait and hats and things also sells pistols, rifles, bows, hunting supplies etc. If you ask to hold one they just hand it to you, unloaded with a trigger lock or zip tie through the action of course. [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h193H4LP5os https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h193H4LP5os
  - judge2020 4y ago
    Just online and possibly on interstate billboards, in my experience.
- s3p 4y ago
  You're comparing the advertisement strategies of a TRACKING device with a weapon capable of killing a human... I do not think it is a good idea to make a false equivalency between the two.

thefz 4y ago

> Airtags are explicitly not meant to track people. Apple goes out of their way The amount of Apple apologism in this site makes me think sometimes. They "went out of their way" by releasing a dumb Android app which everyone should have to install and know it exists as a band-aid after their technology has been shown to be used to harm and abuse people. They know airtags can be used for crime and don't care.

pretext-1 4y ago
> They know airtags can be used for crime and don't care. So can iPhones. Or Androids. Or ski masks, lock picks, tape. Should we stop selling useful items when they can be abused? Apple did way more to stop the abuse of AirTags than the competition and I don't see anyone complaining about Tile. Almost any tool can be abused or used to hurt someone. Stop trying to shift the blame from the perpetrator to the tool being used. Also: funny how the US doesn't ban guns even though they were literally invented to kill people but now fight about AirTags.
- thefz 4y ago
  > Should we stop selling useful items when they can be abused? No. My points above are: 1: people go out of their way to excuse Apple of any wrongoding, part of it is because of the "cult", part of it because Apple is very good at PR and painting themselves always in a good light 2: Apple has, as usual, done the bare minimum to arginate the problem and hand-waved at it.-
  - judge2020 4y ago
    And yet GPS trackers people can slap on cars have been a thing for over 2 decades. My point in the second paragraph is that regardless of how good or bad the safeguards the big company implements are, someone will be able to either abuse it or repurpose/reimplement the technology to perform malicious acts.
  - kjreact 4y ago
    Likewise some people go out of their way to disparage Apple because they belong to the anti-“cult”. Comment histories can be damning… Maybe adding something useful to the conversation by recommending a possible solution to the problem that Apple could implement to alleviate the problems would be more constructive? Here let me start such a conversation: Apple could spearhead a standard to make their trackers communicate with surrounding devices and allow blocking to occur if someone doesn’t want to be tracked. But on the flip side the blocker is then recorded by a central authority to prevent bad actors from stealing and blocking tracking.
    - thefz 4y ago
      > Maybe adding something useful to the conversation by recommending a possible solution to the problem that Apple could implement to alleviate the problems would be more constructive? My solution is: stop buying devices made to violate their users' privacy. Good job on investigating my thoughts digging up my very public comment section, though. I am impressed.
      - skyyler 4y ago

markdown 4y ago

> it already is normalized and has been for a decade In use isn't the same as normalised.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

aliqot 4y ago

> Airtags are explicitly not meant to track people. Apple goes out of their way to ensure them and their accessory partners do not advertise them being on a person regardless of age or relation to the airtag owner. In this same spirit, gun ads don't have intruders being arbitrated in the ads. Why would Apple display people being tracked? reply

Quikinterp 4y ago
I have never seen an ad for a gun of any kind. Off topic I know. But I didn't realise that until now. Do Americans have ads for guns anywhere? I've never seen it
- aliqot 4y ago
  You'll see advertisements for guns and ammo on what we call 'billboards' on the road (it's an advertisement on a flat surface about 30ft long I'd estimate, and maybe 10ft high. usually along the highways). We also get these ads in the marketing flyers you get in the mail, or see them in magazine print ads. Gun ownership here is a bit more of a formalized process, so in general if you're clear to purchase one we'll trust you with a firearm, with few exceptions. The background check has a finite window after which it fails open, then if there is a rejection after the fact, an agency will show up to collect the firearm. I could buy a shotgun while shopping for grocery items in the same store [0]. Also, the place up the road that sells fishing bait and hats and things also sells pistols, rifles, bows, hunting supplies etc. If you ask to hold one they just hand it to you, unloaded with a trigger lock or zip tie through the action of course. [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h193H4LP5os https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h193H4LP5os
- judge2020 4y ago
  Just online and possibly on interstate billboards, in my experience.
s3p 4y ago
You're comparing the advertisement strategies of a TRACKING device with a weapon capable of killing a human... I do not think it is a good idea to make a false equivalency between the two.