6 ms·

No, they have been rendered useless for that purpose through software updates because of the almost 100% overlap of the use cases of 1) stalking someone 2) and

No, they have been rendered useless for that purpose through software updates because of the almost 100% overlap of the use cases of 1) stalking someone 2) and tracking a thief.

ronsor 2y ago
Wait until they realize the almost 100% overlap between the camera's use cases of 1) spying on people and 2) recording nature
- post-it 2y ago
  Nature cameras are relatively hard to conceal (from humans), whereas AirTags are very easy to conceal.
  - theshrike79 2y ago
    They are also very bad for tracking compared to what you can get on Aliexpress/eBay/Amazon (which are the same tbh). For about the same price you can get a device with a SIM card and GPS/GLONASS and _zero_ ways to detect it.
    - post-it 2y ago
      What's the battery life on that though? The appeal of AirTags is that they last a year and work anywhere that has an iPhone nearby.
      - theshrike79 2y ago
        Depends on the device. Some are active all the time, some can sleep and only wake up to get their position fix every hour or so. It's not exactly rocket science to adjust the programming. And if you're stalking someone for a year, you'll have ample options to swap the device to a new one with a fresh battery.
    - throwaway2037 2y ago
      Can you give a couple of example products? I am very curious.
nucleardog 2y ago
I think you can still thread the needle. The cases are identical except for one situation--if the air tag is difficult to find or remove. If you can't find or remove the air tag, then the option you have left to not be tracked is to separate yourself from the tracked thing. In the case of someone being stalked, that's inconvenient (that doesn't do it justice, but not really important to my point). In the case of someone who stole something, that's actually the desired outcome. Imagine a situation where you get in a car and a few minutes later it says there's an air tag following you. If you're being stalked... you can drive straight to a mechanic who can take all the time they need to find it, take a taxi over to the police and report it, etc. If you just stole that car, now you know you're on the clock. Once someone's looking for you and that vehicle, there's a really good chance they're going to find it. You can take it to a mechanic, but a reputable mechanic might have some questions. You can try a less reputable mechanic, but they're gonna be pissed when the cops come knocking asking about the stolen car sitting over there and you might not be going back there any time soon. So if you can't find and remove the air tag relatively quickly, what options do you have left? Probably makes more sense to abandon the vehicle and try another one with a lower risk of winding up in jail. I _know_ where the air tag is in my suitcase and it would take me tools and ~15 minutes to remove. How long is someone going to spend at that versus just tossing it?
- to11mtm 2y ago
  TBH your response makes me realize there's possibly a decent use case for bicycles with the right diameter tubing. > You can try a less reputable mechanic, but they're gonna be pissed when the cops come knocking asking about the stolen car sitting over there and you might not be going back there any time soon. So if you can't find and remove the air tag relatively quickly, what options do you have left? Probably makes more sense to abandon the vehicle and try another one with a lower risk of winding up in jail. Depends on the skill of the chop-shop or it's folks and where you are. A fun thought experience would be how much suspicion a flatbed tow truck with some form of faraday cage around the car, below a cover would get from LE. Agree with your general 'deterrent' concept, I think the main challenge a lot of folks run into is getting lazy with placement. Glove/console boxes, the 'pockets' on the back of front seats, are all stupid easy. Technically anything in the interior, probably can be 'found' with sufficient detection capability. No, you put that thing somewhere weird and ideally a PITA to get at. This honestly gives me the idea of finding the right spot in my WRX front headlights to make it not visible; If the spot I'm thinking of will work, they'd literally have to pull off the front bumper to even get at it...

No, they have been rendered useless for that purpose through software updates because of the almost 100% overlap of the use cases of 1) stalking someone 2) and tracking a thief.

ronsor 2y ago

Wait until they realize the almost 100% overlap between the camera's use cases of 1) spying on people and 2) recording nature

post-it 2y ago
Nature cameras are relatively hard to conceal (from humans), whereas AirTags are very easy to conceal.
- theshrike79 2y ago
  They are also very bad for tracking compared to what you can get on Aliexpress/eBay/Amazon (which are the same tbh). For about the same price you can get a device with a SIM card and GPS/GLONASS and _zero_ ways to detect it.
  - post-it 2y ago
    What's the battery life on that though? The appeal of AirTags is that they last a year and work anywhere that has an iPhone nearby.
    - theshrike79 2y ago
      Depends on the device. Some are active all the time, some can sleep and only wake up to get their position fix every hour or so. It's not exactly rocket science to adjust the programming. And if you're stalking someone for a year, you'll have ample options to swap the device to a new one with a fresh battery.
  - throwaway2037 2y ago
    Can you give a couple of example products? I am very curious.

nucleardog 2y ago

I think you can still thread the needle. The cases are identical except for one situation--if the air tag is difficult to find or remove. If you can't find or remove the air tag, then the option you have left to not be tracked is to separate yourself from the tracked thing. In the case of someone being stalked, that's inconvenient (that doesn't do it justice, but not really important to my point). In the case of someone who stole something, that's actually the desired outcome. Imagine a situation where you get in a car and a few minutes later it says there's an air tag following you. If you're being stalked... you can drive straight to a mechanic who can take all the time they need to find it, take a taxi over to the police and report it, etc. If you just stole that car, now you know you're on the clock. Once someone's looking for you and that vehicle, there's a really good chance they're going to find it. You can take it to a mechanic, but a reputable mechanic might have some questions. You can try a less reputable mechanic, but they're gonna be pissed when the cops come knocking asking about the stolen car sitting over there and you might not be going back there any time soon. So if you can't find and remove the air tag relatively quickly, what options do you have left? Probably makes more sense to abandon the vehicle and try another one with a lower risk of winding up in jail. I _know_ where the air tag is in my suitcase and it would take me tools and ~15 minutes to remove. How long is someone going to spend at that versus just tossing it?

to11mtm 2y ago
TBH your response makes me realize there's possibly a decent use case for bicycles with the right diameter tubing. > You can try a less reputable mechanic, but they're gonna be pissed when the cops come knocking asking about the stolen car sitting over there and you might not be going back there any time soon. So if you can't find and remove the air tag relatively quickly, what options do you have left? Probably makes more sense to abandon the vehicle and try another one with a lower risk of winding up in jail. Depends on the skill of the chop-shop or it's folks and where you are. A fun thought experience would be how much suspicion a flatbed tow truck with some form of faraday cage around the car, below a cover would get from LE. Agree with your general 'deterrent' concept, I think the main challenge a lot of folks run into is getting lazy with placement. Glove/console boxes, the 'pockets' on the back of front seats, are all stupid easy. Technically anything in the interior, probably can be 'found' with sufficient detection capability. No, you put that thing somewhere weird and ideally a PITA to get at. This honestly gives me the idea of finding the right spot in my WRX front headlights to make it not visible; If the spot I'm thinking of will work, they'd literally have to pull off the front bumper to even get at it...