5 ms·

There isn't a GPS on a laptop.

bombcar 4y ago
Something about this story is screwy, the laptop determines its location based on wifi, which means I wouldn't trust it to be very accurate (Find My shows me currently in the middle of the street next to my house). I'm with the cops on this one.
- gnicholas 4y ago
  I get that this isn't 100% proof it's in there, but how intrusive is it to have a cop knock on the door, step inside (even with eyes closed, so as not to intrude on the occupant's privacy), and have the owner of the laptop trigger the sound? If it's a modest sized home you'd only have to do that from one room, and if it's larger maybe you'd trigger a sound with someone listening from a couple locations. The absence of certain guilt doesn't mean there's not enough evidence for any investigation whatsoever. That's what probably cause and search warrants (or even less, in this case) are for.
  - cf100clunk 4y ago
    There are constitutional proscriptions on police entering a Canadian household. A cop cannot just enter in the manner you've suggested.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      And in the US there is the Fourth Amendment. The cop likely doesn't want to trigger an issue based on "we got a warrant based on hearsay from a neighbor".
      - gnicholas 4y ago
        This wouldn't be hearsay from a neighbor — it would only be after seeing the neighbor log into the icloud account and seeing Apple's tracking system showing it was in the house. Hearsay is when someone says something but you don't see it with your own eyes. If this is indeed a house, not an apartment, I would think that that location accuracy would be high enough that its presence over multiple days would be enough to get a search warrant.
    - gnicholas 4y ago
      What are the proscriptions? I'm a (former) lawyer from the US, and based on what I know of criminal procedure, the police could conduct a search based on this.
- Aaargh20318 4y ago
  > the laptop determines its location based on wifi MacBooks can also be found in the same way as AirTags. They broadcast a BTLE beacon that is picked up by close-by iPhones that send it to Apple. iPhones do have accurate location information based on GPS. On newer Macs this even works when it is turned off. Not sure how Find My prioritizes the different reports.

Something about this story is screwy, the laptop determines its location based on wifi, which means I wouldn't trust it to be very accurate (Find My shows me currently in the middle of the street next to my house). I'm with the cops on this one.

gnicholas 4y ago
I get that this isn't 100% proof it's in there, but how intrusive is it to have a cop knock on the door, step inside (even with eyes closed, so as not to intrude on the occupant's privacy), and have the owner of the laptop trigger the sound? If it's a modest sized home you'd only have to do that from one room, and if it's larger maybe you'd trigger a sound with someone listening from a couple locations. The absence of certain guilt doesn't mean there's not enough evidence for any investigation whatsoever. That's what probably cause and search warrants (or even less, in this case) are for.
- cf100clunk 4y ago
  There are constitutional proscriptions on police entering a Canadian household. A cop cannot just enter in the manner you've suggested.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    And in the US there is the Fourth Amendment. The cop likely doesn't want to trigger an issue based on "we got a warrant based on hearsay from a neighbor".
    - gnicholas 4y ago
      This wouldn't be hearsay from a neighbor — it would only be after seeing the neighbor log into the icloud account and seeing Apple's tracking system showing it was in the house. Hearsay is when someone says something but you don't see it with your own eyes. If this is indeed a house, not an apartment, I would think that that location accuracy would be high enough that its presence over multiple days would be enough to get a search warrant.
  - gnicholas 4y ago
    What are the proscriptions? I'm a (former) lawyer from the US, and based on what I know of criminal procedure, the police could conduct a search based on this.
Aaargh20318 4y ago
> the laptop determines its location based on wifi MacBooks can also be found in the same way as AirTags. They broadcast a BTLE beacon that is picked up by close-by iPhones that send it to Apple. iPhones do have accurate location information based on GPS. On newer Macs this even works when it is turned off. Not sure how Find My prioritizes the different reports.