When HN users recommended it
5 HN users recommended this between 2021 and 2022, in 6 comments.
20072026
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
5 HN users recommended this between 2021 and 2022, in 6 comments.
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
Are these domestic abuse activists aware that GPS tracking devices already exist and have existed for a long time? See here for an example [0].
[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Real-time-Tracker-Worldwide-Coverage-...
well a government agent would just attach a real tracking device with cellular that does live realtime updates lol - and anyone who wants to track someone has far better options then airtags: https://www.amazon.ca/Real-time-Worldwide-Coverage-Portable-... or https://www.amazon.ca/Real-time-Worldwide-Coverage-Portable-...
these have existed for a long time at reasonable prices and none of the have the anti stalking measures airtags do.
Scary thing is the cheaper trackers already exist:
https://www.amazon.ca/Real-time-Worldwide-Coverage-Portable-...
But the ease of use of AirTags is undeniable.
28$ lasts 6 months similar size https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07N4DHFZM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i...
They get smaller and better the more you pay. Gps cell trackers are cheap and prolific
By an AirTag? Obviously not, but it also won't disclose your own location to an AirTag owner unless someone with an iPhone is near you. I have an Android phone and keep a Tile tracker in my wallet and on my keys, the number of Tile users is much lower than the number of iPhone users, but it can do the same. You'd have to know I was a Tile user, though, to get your own Tile to track me, but if you did, it would not alert me regardless of whether I used an iPhone or an Android device.
Will an iPhone alert you if you're being tracked by a Tracki/Tive/Lightbug GPS+cellular tracker? These are common in commercial shipping, but easily accessible for consumers too Here's [1] for $16 (requires $20/mo monthly fee) and [2] is a bring-your-own-SIM off-brand device for $20. Or, heck, they could just get an actual Android phone (either just an old one they have in an electronics drawer, or they could buy a used low-end model for $50), plug it into a 12V charger in the trunk, and set up location sharing.
To be clear, I think Apple made a reasonable effort to do the right thing here. The difference between Tile and AirTags is that the AirTag has a scale factor and pervasiveness that enables 'crimes of opportunity'. It's infeasible to prevent determined criminals: if you have to plan purchasing it, and signing up for the subscription with your personal details, and wait for the shipment, and install it, most people will think twice before following through with that whole sequence. On the other hand, if coworker A is preparing a laptop bag for coworker B to take home, and is fidgeting with the AirTag on their keychain while they do it, their impulse control might not be sufficient to prevent them from slipping in the tracker that they already have on their person.
[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Tracki/dp/B07N4DHFZM
[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Tracker/dp/B09DX9CNCJ
> AirTags take advantage of Apple's global "Find My" network of hundreds of millions of Apple iPhones. No other tracking device has this capability.
I guarantee I can find a cheaper device that does not need to use apples network and is as easy to use; it's even more perfect for stalking because there's no information on the owner and no risk that the tag notifies the person nearby.
Apples devices are low power and do not have GPS trackers in them; it's pretty trivial to have a higher powered device with a GPS tracker in it.
EDIT: 10s of searching, it's even magnetic: https://www.amazon.com/Tracki-Magnetic-Required-Worldwide-Mo...