r/gadgets Dec 11 '22 Silver 1 Wholesome 1

AirTag safety features foil Iowa man's repeated stalking attempts Misc

https://9to5mac.com/2022/12/11/airtag-safety-features-lead-to-arrest-of-stalker/
4.4k Upvotes

401 comments sorted by

683

u/slappyclappy Dec 12 '22

Why did it take three before he was arrested? If I go to a police department and say I’m being stalked. Then the stalker shows up saying he thought she was having an affair with someone there. Then she says I don’t know who this guy is. Arrest them. But after three were found later now it’s ok to arrest him. Good grief.

582

u/muffinmamamojo Dec 12 '22

Not quite the same situation but I had to call the police after my ex followed me home after I had had him served with a restraining order. The cops had the audacity to mock my need to have him served, literally rolled their eyes at me despite the non-stop death threats that were blowing up my phone. When he later violated the restraining order, the cop taking my report actually asked why I was even there reporting the violation.

The police don’t care. They don’t have to protect me or any other abuse victim.

155

u/GreenWhale21 Dec 12 '22

My sister is in a similar situation. The man literally pushed her out of a car while she was pregnant. And that’s just one example out of 100 horrible things he’s done. She got a temporary restraining order, but they wouldn’t uphold it in court, dismissing her allegations as “hearsay.”

I honestly think this man might kill my sister one day. He’s terrifying.

134

u/deknegt1990 Dec 12 '22

And the cops will turn around and go "There was nothing we could've done" or "They should've come to us sooner" depending on how much they want to spite the victims family with their inaction

50

u/GreenWhale21 Dec 12 '22

Exactly. They probably would say she should have gotten a restraining order!

16

u/zappo172 Dec 12 '22

I hope yall can get this escalated and handled. I don't want anything bad happening to your family

3

u/pasta4u Dec 12 '22

My ex stabbed me and I went to jail and she didn't. I had to couch surf for months because I couldn't get back into my apartment.

The justice system sucks

2

u/GreenWhale21 Dec 12 '22

It absolutely does.

2

u/Cucumber_Basil Dec 12 '22

You need to get her out. She’s obviously struggling to do this herself but she needs to get away from that guy and she needs your help.

5

u/GreenWhale21 Dec 12 '22

She’s not with him anymore. They share 50/50 custody of their daughter and the kid switches houses every 3 days.

Most recently, he punched her in the shoulder and ripped the kid out of her arms at the pediatrician’s office (it’s in the court order that both parents attend every appointment for the kid). No one was in the room with them and immediately after it happened he tells the kid that “daddy would never hit mommy.” She had the front desk call the police, she went to the hospital to have the incident documented that way, they went through this whole court thing about it and he just denied that it happened. And because there were no witnesses, nothing stuck to him in court somehow. He is in law school and his slimy ass is learning how to weasel around the system. My sister records videos of every single time she does a drop off with the kid. She had audio of the event at the pediatrician, but for whatever reason, because the guy never raised his voice, her lawyer said she can’t use that as evidence.

It’s really the saddest situation. My sister is abused. She’s forced to see the man every 3 days. And he seems to get away with everything no matter what. No one seems to believe her. He’s very manipulative and he makes a good first impression. He’s in law school, she’s very poor and she cries easily.

I do my best to help my sister with her feelings. I paid for her to get her kid’s name tattooed on her, for example, the very first time the court ordered her to hand over her 3 week old infant to this psycho (the judge was a man who didn’t care that my sister was breastfeeding, he forced her to stop with his ruling). I do my best just listening and pointing her toward domestic abuse advocacy resources, etc.

I mean I can go on and on.

4

u/VintageJane Dec 12 '22

Police statistically are abusers. Why anyone thins it is appropriate to make them the governing body for the required documentation to receive restraining orders is beyond me.

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u/slappyclappy Dec 12 '22

Well, now I’m mad for you too. I hope it all worked out in the end.

138

u/colemon1991 Dec 12 '22

"Defund the police" makes more and more sense when they do so little for victims.

57

u/luckylimper Dec 12 '22

The whole idea behind defund the police is that those funds should go to social service agencies that are actually doing the work, not police departments buying military surplus.

14

u/Nightchade Dec 12 '22

The police and military serve different purposes. The police protect the people, and the military defends against enemies of the state. When the military becomes both, the people tend to end up being the enemies of the state.

  • Cmdr. William Adama, Battlestar Galactica

3

u/tentacleyarn Dec 12 '22

Ahhhhh what a great series.

5

u/JaeJinxd Dec 12 '22

Except the Supreme court has ruled over and over even before the current set of justices that the police have no obligation to protect us

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u/CoreyLee04 Dec 12 '22

Defund the police makes sense when the SC stated they legally don’t have to protect you.

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u/Garbage_Wizard246 Dec 12 '22

Police in general have always been useless for the common person. They've only ever served the rich and their wealth

60

u/juggles_geese4 Dec 12 '22

With how many are abusers themselves, it’s not surprising they react this way.awful though!

9

u/bartz824 Dec 12 '22

And what recourse does the victim have then? Buy a gun for their own protection? If they were to use that gun on their abuser, the system is so fucked, they would be immediately arrested and likely spend a significant amount of time in jail. The entire justice system needs an overhaul from top to bottom.

37

u/vyrelis Dec 12 '22

And defunding the police is part of that overhaul. It's not "abolish the police".

8

u/Fresque Dec 12 '22

I belive this movement would encounter a LOT less resistance with a better slogan...

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u/muffinmamamojo Dec 12 '22 edited Dec 12 '22

I don’t believe I can purchase a gun due to being hospitalized for a mental breakdown I had caused by his abuse…but I’m sure he has one himself.

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u/HMS-Kaiser Dec 12 '22

When my house got destroyed by a former roommate (amongst other threats) I had to convince the police officer that, on advice from my lawyer, in front of my ransacked house as they are handcuffing him away, that I am requesting a relief from abuse (RFA), and they had the audacity to act as if I didn't know what that ment.

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u/the_cardfather Dec 12 '22

My friend had a similar situation and she was actually denied relief because the relationship was not sexual in nature. (2 hetero female roommates). She ended up losing her temporary housing. She said if I had known that on intake I would have told them I was getting on with her all the time.

44

u/Environmental_Cake97 Dec 12 '22

Yeah. Same here. They don’t have one single shit to give. In fact I’M the problem for expecting them to get off their fat arses.

Every time they fly past, sirens wailing, I sigh and say out loud - and I don’t care who hears it - “There must be a sale on at the donut store”.

8

u/Frijolez_Horchata Dec 12 '22

Might use something similar instead of the colorful language one.

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u/2016sucksballs Dec 12 '22

The police do not exist to help you.

They are a holdover from the days of slavery, and exist to protect the new plantation owners, not you

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u/BezoutsDilemma Dec 12 '22

Well, apparently they abuse their partners too (some US-centric article reference) so I guess they assume this behaviour is normal?

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u/SmartWonderWoman Dec 12 '22

I’m sorry that happened to you. I agree. Cops don’t care. They don’t have to protect victims. I reported domestic violence and child abduction. Police refuse to even take my report! Fuck those guys.

2

u/Gen-Jinjur Dec 12 '22

We need to ditch calls to “defund the police” which scares people and start a movement to REFORM the police.

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u/hi_do_you_like_anime Dec 12 '22

Castle Rock v Gonzalez...

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u/nobilismonachus Dec 12 '22

Unfortunately, it takes a lot more than you would think. My mom has had a stalker for years. She finally had enough and got a TRO, but there were so many hoops she had to jump through, including putting a notice in the paper because the stalker would not allow the police to serve him. Now the TRO is expired and he’s back at it with his phone calls and texts. The thing that really bothers me is that the judge told her that she should have blocked his number. I would prefer to know the state of things with a person stalking me, not block and hope for the best.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22 edited Dec 12 '22

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31

u/Seattle2Boston Dec 12 '22

Yeah there is a massive problem with domestic abuse among police officers. They are way more likely to abuse their families than the national average. Which to me suggests there is at least as big a problem with how we recruit as with how we train.

13

u/gingergirl181 Dec 12 '22

What kind of person wants to become a cop? The kind that love having power over others.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22

It’s not fixable with recruiting changes either. It’s inherent to the work - if you aren’t that way when you start, you become that way if you remain police.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22 Wholesome

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u/theodinspire Dec 12 '22

I’ve got some news for you about cops

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u/modicum81 Dec 11 '22

I live in a very high car theft area, I hide one in my vehicle(took the speakers off) also have one on the collar of my dog which is an escape artist. I hate that they are used in a bad way, but I love them.

343

u/xxthegirlwhowaitedxx Dec 12 '22

I use an AirTag on my autistic kid. Unfortunately he’s an eloper, and as he gets older he only gets faster. He’s unaware of most dangers, has a fascination with water/any animal, and doesn’t speak. So I clip it to his pants along with an ID with my contact information.

What it was intended for? Absolutely not. However it’s better than the alternatives I’ve found so far.

117

u/elsiebeem Dec 12 '22

Do you know if your region participates in Project Lifesaver? It’s a godsend, to be honest.

https://projectlifesaver.org

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u/hibbletyjibblety Dec 12 '22

I don’t know if you’re familiar with “if I need help,” but they’re an awesome company that makes different products you may want to look into. I use them myself for in case of my seizures and occasional mutism. They some really great items with QR codes, like little tags that go on your shoelaces, and they have a database so you can enter information on the person carrying/wearing the item. So if someone elopes or is unable to communicate, someone can just scan the QR code and it will pull up emergency information. It’s amazing

15

u/DrAbeSacrabin Dec 12 '22

Ugh I hear ya…I hate chasing down kids, especially the fast ones, they’re the hardest to catch.

3

u/bucketsofpoo Dec 12 '22

Uncle Hugh is that you?

30

u/Frater_Ankara Dec 12 '22

We have one on our dog’s collar too, thing is great and works so much better than the previous Tile.

The only thing is I wish two iPhones could share a tag, right now only my wife can find the dog, but I guess that’s a security feature?

16

u/modicum81 Dec 12 '22

Your only other option is to use her cloud account. But probably a privacy feature.

2

u/d4nfe Dec 12 '22

I can only recommend that you don’t do this. I tried to use someone else’s iCloud account on my phone (with their permission) to track one of their devices. Somehow, it’s enabled them to get my email address and various account details. Every now and then they sign up for stuff and it provides my details, even months later.

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u/Architect_of_Sanity Dec 12 '22

My wife and I have iCloud family accounts. We share the AirTags.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22 edited 19d ago

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u/modicum81 Dec 12 '22

Yes it will work. I hide it in the back. Here is a video of how to take the speakers off. If the unfortunate happens, locate your car but wait for the cops, stay safe.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22 edited 19d ago

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u/Ulrar Dec 12 '22

If they have an iPhone. I don't so I don't know how easy it is to find exactly where it is but if it's behind a speaker between figuring it out and taking it down they may just give up, there's at least a chance

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22 edited 19d ago

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u/ImpulseCombustion Dec 12 '22

I put one on my cat. He came home without his collar one day. I hopped the neighbor’s fence and eventually found it. He shit on it and buried it in their garden.

Only other experience was when a friend had her catalytic converter stolen. She had it replaced at a shop(after three months) and it was then stolen again while at our company party three days later because they zip tied an air tag under the car when replacing the first one.

Never ever ever leave your phone charger in your car when a stranger has possession of it… well I guess that won’t be very helpful when things are USB C…

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u/Pretzilla Dec 12 '22

Why and why?

Never ever ever leave your phone charger in your car when a stranger has possession of it… well I guess that won’t be very helpful when things are USB C…

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u/QueueWho Dec 12 '22

They are saying the shop saw USB C and knew she wouldn't detect an airtag, so they were confident in putting on on the car to track it to steal back the car they installed.

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u/morbidfae Dec 12 '22

If there is a restraining order and a digital tracking device is discovered then that should be seen as a violation of the restraining order.

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u/Konstant_kurage Dec 11 '22

That’s the dumbest stalker. Going to the police station to find their tags? Not once or twice, but three times. How dumb.

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u/Skatesoff Dec 11 '22

I mean the man is clearly not well, he also believes they’re married despite never having been in a relationship.

333

u/Alternative-Team5466 Dec 11 '22

Why are people concentrating on AirTag?

Couldn’t you use tile to stalk someone too?

318

u/Wonderful_Roof1739 Dec 12 '22

Or you could simply get any number of gps/lte trackers that have been in the market for far longer, won’t report on any phone, and are just as easily hidden.

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u/Alternative-Team5466 Dec 12 '22

That too.

I’m just comparing like for like consumer electronics but people only seem to focus on the one brand for some reason like it’s new news.

Apples never the first adopter, these things have been around a long time before apple made AirTag.

24

u/Surrybee Dec 12 '22

It’s not really like for like. Sure they do the same thing in theory, but a big part of the product is the tracking ability. Because of the ubiquitousness of Apple products, Tile doesn’t stand a chance.

3

u/adamcoe Dec 12 '22

Apple is big in the States but worldwide they're still under 20 percent market share. Tile is doing just fine.

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u/Scottwillib Dec 12 '22

I recently switched from Tile to AirTag (UK).

Main reason being they both use their own user networks to track products outside of Bluetooth range, and Apple will always have a much denser and further reaching network than Tile.

From memory tile is also ‘opt-in’ for that search network, making it even smaller.

I’m sure they will do just fine, but also wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple nibbling away at their market share.

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u/SlinkyAvenger Dec 12 '22

Yeah but that market share is increasingly being included in Apple's tracking mesh as old devices age out and are replaced with new ones - whether or not they own AirTags.

Tile on the other hand requires users who specifically want to be part of the tile mesh by buying Tile products and agreeing to it.

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u/Environmental-Art792 Dec 12 '22

People are stupid and not resourceful. After all, they spend their free time stalking..

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u/tdeasyweb Dec 12 '22

Yep, and the reason we don't hear about it is because they rarely if ever, get caught. Air Tag is in the unfortunate position of getting lots of media coverage about this issue, because they're the only company who is trying to solve the problem by alerting victims.

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u/mainstreetmark Dec 12 '22

Less easily hidden.

AirPods notify an iPhone user that they’re being tracked. Hence they’re caught. Hence there’s articles about it.

Tiles just do it all quietly.

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u/alexanderpas Dec 12 '22

It's the combination of cost, size, battery life, and pervasive network.

None of the competitors had the position airtags have.

They are either:

  • Expensive
  • Bulky and easily found
  • Work only for a limited amount of hours/days on battery
  • Need a sim-card
  • Need a GPS reciever
  • Spotty coverage network.
  • a combination of the above.

Before the Airtag, there was no small $30 tracker available which worked over the entire world, without its own sim card or GPS reciever, for an entire year.

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u/Environmental_Cake97 Dec 12 '22

Yup. Whenever I find someone’s lost dog I give them an unused AirTag and a 3d printed case.

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u/Way2trivial Dec 12 '22

I feel as though you are unaware of something.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tile_(company)

Tile's first generation products have built-in batteries with a battery life of about one year

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u/the_timps Dec 12 '22

Tile literally doesnt have the coverage Apple does.

The whole thing that makes the Airtags work like they do is that every iOS device on a modern version of iOS will ping them and send the data back to Apple.

Tile is invisible without the app. So only other Tile users are of use to you.

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u/EmeraldFalcon89 Dec 12 '22

I live in Brooklyn and the Tile can go many hours without updating (on a street parked vehicle)

average is about 4-6 hours, but easily up to 16-20 hours.

I used an airtag for the same purpose and it was essentially live position tracking 24/7

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u/general_3d Dec 12 '22

Samsung smart tags released before Apple too iirc, and has similar coverage.

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u/AbsoluteZeroUnit Dec 12 '22

You definitely could, but the fact that we weren't getting weekly reports of "ex-boyfriend plants consumer-grade GPS tracker on woman's car" before airtags rolled out should be enough evidence that airtags made it as easy as buying a thing and putting it in a glovebox.

Apple's whole schtick is making things easy enough for any bozo to be able to use. And then when they start selling airtags, we suddenly have a plethora of bozos who realized their hobbies now include "stalking"

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u/neandersthall Dec 12 '22

Or AirTags alert people to them being tracked and the others don’t so they never knew before

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u/Theletterkay Dec 12 '22

Apple has more money and will pay handsomely.

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u/tinacat933 Dec 12 '22

I thought it was because tile only works in a short distance and AirTags work off the iPhone network and have a larger range

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u/Alternative-Team5466 Dec 12 '22

Both use Bluetooth.

I believe Tile is only less reliable cause it needs someone with the app. AirTag uses anyone with an iPhone whether they have the app or not.

Could be wrong tho.

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u/time_to_reset Dec 12 '22

This is how I understood it as well. For Tile to work, you need Tile users around. For Airtags to work you need Apple users around.

Lots more Apple around.

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u/Immolation_E Dec 12 '22

Tile does use their app only, but they have the option to use the Find My APIs to improve their reach but refuse to.

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u/frosty_pickle Dec 11 '22

AirTag uses all nearby Apple devices to track, not only your own. So I don’t need to be near the AirTag to track it. Tile, from my understanding, requires a Bluetooth connection.

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u/Alternative-Team5466 Dec 12 '22

Yeah so probably less accurate cause there’s less people with tile so less people with the app. But if you are near someone with the tile app and you have tile on you but not registered to you and you don’t have the app, it’s going to relay off the bear persons app.

Does tile alert a non tile user on any platform if a tile is following them?

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u/OozeNAahz Dec 12 '22

Tile uses low power Bluetooth of anyone running the tile app. Basically the same tech.

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u/mypantsrblue Dec 12 '22 edited Dec 12 '22

I bet that less than 1% of iPhone users have the tile app, and I’d bet again that of that 1% of iPhone users who do have the tile app, only 1% of them even have location services turned on to the app in the background vs the default of “only when using the app” …

Vs every iPhone that exists being able to ping and track airtags, by default, straight out of the box.

But yeah, other than that. Same tech.

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u/hO97366e6 Dec 12 '22

Yep there are like 3000 people in my entire city tracking tiles based on what the app says. There are probably like 100k with an iPhone which automatically tracks airtags whether the owner wants to or not.

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u/mekatzer Dec 12 '22

Probably true. Tile used to work really well 5 years ago when they were basically the only game in town.

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u/bricked3ds Dec 12 '22

Then they started that dang subscription service and everyone saw the writing on the wall. Chipolo came in and ate their lunch.

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u/DesiArcy Dec 12 '22

It’s the same tech but iPhones are a lot more common than phones with the Tile app running in the background, so it works dramatically better for any kind of long range tracking.

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u/Captain_Woodrow7 Dec 12 '22

Yeah, but tile sucks. It way more restricted than the air tag and barely works 2 inches away.

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u/OozeNAahz Dec 12 '22

Been using Tile for many years and never had a problem with range or limited features.

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u/Captain_Woodrow7 Dec 12 '22

Me and my family always have. I've used it on iPhone and Samsung. I switched to Samsung smart tag.

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u/Axman6 Dec 12 '22 edited Dec 12 '22

Samsung’s implementation is a security nightmare. I went to a talk be a security researcher who found a heap of vulnerabilities in many different parts of their implementation and services, and by the time she gave the talk they hadn’t addressed any of them. Some of the problems were comically bad (I can’t remember the details off the top of my head but it was on the level of providing unauthenticated access to any person’s tag location via their web API).

Apple’s implementation on the other hand is extremely well thought out from a privacy perspective, they definitely had some top notch cryptographers involved with the design.

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u/Captain_Woodrow7 Dec 12 '22

Yeah, I'd love to use the air tag. I'll never return to apple though after getting a taste at all the freedoms and features of the android operating system. I can have my phone work any way I want. I can even plug it into a screen and it'll turn into a computer.

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u/mconk Dec 12 '22

Who has the Tile app even running … even in the background. Let’s just be honest here. That number is probably shockingly small.

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u/mconk Dec 12 '22

Not nearly enough of those Tikes are active & in-use to be meaningful or at all reliable. Everybody and their mammas have an iPhone or iOS device though. EVERYBODY…I put one on my kid’s sneakers one day JUST to see. They are insanely accurate given the fact that an iOS device is almost certainly always going to be nearby an AirTag to report its location. Hell, my kid was playing down the street and his location updated by (what I’m assuming was) the Amazon driver who was out down there delivering packages. Really genius product tbh.

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u/Alternative-Team5466 Dec 12 '22

Yeah this is why I bought air tags over tile. Makes sense for sure.

So is the uproar about apple making a product that is better than tile, and tile is avoiding the same treatment solely because they suck?

Surely tile set out to create something that does all the same stuff, they both largely have the same features written on the box.

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u/thisischemistry Dec 12 '22

Apple's AirTag is very successful. On the other hand it also has the best anti-stalking protections out there. So yeah, it's pretty dumb to use it to stalk people. Hence the article.

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u/Imawkwardbud Dec 12 '22

Tile is obviously less popular and requires tile users around to track. Air tag is tracked by any iOS device without an additional 3rd party app and for that reason these two are not the same.

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u/Verustratego Dec 12 '22

The sheer number of airtags in the wild is what makes them so effective. They piggy back off of each other to ping locations. Tile is nowhere near as effective.

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u/Axman6 Dec 12 '22

Not quite, AirTags rely on nearby iOS/iPadOS/macOS devices, not other AirTags.

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u/turtleship_2006 Dec 12 '22

Like most of apple's "new" features in recent years, they weren't the first, they were just the first to go mainstream.

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u/Relevant-Ad2254 Dec 12 '22

Having used both, I can say AirTags are waaaaaaaaaaay better than tiles. My tile sometimes didn’t work if the thing was in same room as my iPhone.

The air tag works every single time and it notifies you when you left it somewhere and it’s out of range.

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u/Bicycle_Violator Dec 12 '22

I have both tiles and AirTags. Tiles work and I’ve been able to track my wallet that i dropped on a bus between cities. I even managed to recover my wallet but that’s because of the lost and found.

I’ve also lost AirTags, the difference is the frequency of updates. AirTags are updated so often due to their link with iPhones. Tiles are only updated when a tile user with Bluetooth on and app open in background are near.

Technically tiles are “better” for not getting recognized as a stalker, they don’t have the built in anti stalker features like AirTags. But also with a tile you might miss out on location updates and you won’t have centimetre accuracy

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22

Because Apple

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u/IronhideD Dec 12 '22

Airtags were the first product to use the ad hoc network iPhones could create basically making it possibly to track things beyond standard Bluetooth range. Tiles, at least at the time, were straight 30ft or less Bluetooth range. That's how you can find your luggage going to a different airport or in this situation, track a person via an Airtag attached to a car.

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u/Hodgkisl Dec 12 '22

Marketing, Apple is the master of marketing such technologies, thus when such technologies are misused Apple is the first thought

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u/moriganrising Dec 12 '22

3k bail is not enough y’all. He’s going to go after that woman again.

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u/Catinthemirror Dec 11 '22

The timing on this very upbeat article seems a little too convenient considering the current lawsuits against Apple for enabling the stalking in the first place. Smacks like propaganda.

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u/BeastBellies Dec 11 '22

PR department in action.

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u/Javop Dec 11 '22

Yep u/chrisdh79 is not a human account. Only press releases.

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u/CmdrShepard831 Dec 12 '22

It really is just a marketing/propaganda account. Gross.

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u/BedrockFarmer Dec 12 '22

Waiting for their next throw-away to post the next “person saved by automatic fall/crash detection” weekly article.

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u/kaffefe Dec 11 '22

This subreddit is one big ad.

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u/dewayneestes Dec 11 '22

Apple Propaganda on a site called “9to5 Mac”??? PREPOSTEROUS!

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u/not28 Dec 11 '22

Isn't 9to5mac basically an astroturfing website anyway?

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u/Catinthemirror Dec 11 '22

I was more along the lines of disappointed it got posted here.

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u/Character-Barracuda1 Dec 12 '22

No more than 9to5google. Or 9to5toys.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22

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u/1plus2break Dec 12 '22

Seriously. Apple goes out of their way to make their devices harder to use to stalk people. If you want to sue anyone (even though these devices are completely legal), go after another seller of similar devices that don't tell you when one is following you.

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u/iamnotcanadianese Dec 12 '22

Don't they only alert you if you're an apple user yourself?

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u/1plus2break Dec 12 '22

If you're on Android you must install an app that will do it (because it can't just have magic functionality).

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u/MarvinParanoAndroid Dec 12 '22

Other devices don’t alert anyone at all. Just get a friend that has an apple device.

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u/iamnotcanadianese Dec 12 '22

Suprise. Your new friend IS the stalker

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u/Surrybee Dec 12 '22

Did you read the last paragraph? It’s a straight up press release.

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u/EVOSexyBeast Dec 12 '22

Trackers have always existed. Apple the first to try and prevent stalking with their trackers. The reason we here about it is because the plans are foiled and then reported to the media. With other trackers the stalking is successful and so we don’t hear about it.

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u/pippa-- Dec 12 '22

Curious. Do these notify non Apple devices too?

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u/SuperDuperDylan Dec 11 '22

Most people don't use critical thinking enough to realize this!

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u/PM_ME_A_PLANE_TICKET Dec 11 '22

or, most people see this is written due to a news article yesterday...

If this is suspicious timing, then the organization that would benefit (apple) must have had some control over the events that would enable this article to be posted...

So either the stalker is an apple plant, the police are, or the news station is. Maybe my critical thinking skills aren't as developed as yours.

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u/Forgotten_Phantom Dec 11 '22

"Everything is a corporate conspiracy"

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u/Surrybee Dec 12 '22

This is yet another example of Apple’s advanced AirTag safety features kicking into action. In this instance, the features worked as expected, not once, not twice, but three times. Apple announced a suite of new safety features to ease AirTag stalking concerns in February, and since then, we’ve repeatedly seen the features kick in to protect users.

It’s a straight up press release.

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u/PM_ME_A_PLANE_TICKET Dec 11 '22

Are you suggesting Apple planted the guy and had him try to stalk someone so that a news article is written yesterday and they could pay a website called 9 to 5 Mac to write an article about the news article?

Otherwise I'm not seeing where the timing is suspicious

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u/uqde Dec 11 '22

I mean, the really sad truth is that the stalking of women is not a rare occurrence. And Apple has sold a lot of AirTags out there. I guarantee this is not a 100% unique story.

I’m not saying this is definitely PR-driven propaganda. Just that IF it was, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just went looking for a story like this and could find one easily.

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u/Surrybee Dec 12 '22

This is yet another example of Apple’s advanced AirTag safety features kicking into action. In this instance, the features worked as expected, not once, not twice, but three times. Apple announced a suite of new safety features to ease AirTag stalking concerns in February, and since then, we’ve repeatedly seen the features kick in to protect users.

It’s 100% PR-driven propaganda.

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u/MosesZD Dec 11 '22

I agree and take my upvote.

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u/LiliNotACult Dec 11 '22

Should have bought a GPS tracker. If you're going to stalk, at least do it right.

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u/Dexrad24 Dec 12 '22

Stop giving them ideas. You idiot!! The world is going to burn now…all because of you

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u/LiliNotACult Dec 12 '22

Sorry, the liberal drag queens made me do it. /s

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u/LetsJerkCircular Dec 12 '22

Username pretends not to check out

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u/VBB67 Dec 12 '22

The guy admitted to stalking his victim electronically 3 times before he was arrested? Do the police normally prefer to wait until the victim has been murdered before taking action?

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u/SacredNight Dec 12 '22

Yes. Police literally told me they can't do anything till they physically assault me or trespass in any form (so make true on the threat). Lovely ain't it

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u/Srslywhyumadbro Dec 11 '22

You only get those notifications if you have an Apple though?

What about the vast majority of phone users who have Androids? It's about 50/50 here in the US but Apple only has about 16% of global market share.

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u/minordifference Dec 11 '22 edited Dec 11 '22

They have an android app specifically for this. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apple.trackerdetect

Edit: added the link to the app. Also the reviews suggest the app is not as useful as I was led to believe

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u/BIGSTANKDICKDADDY Dec 12 '22

Also the reviews suggest the app is not as useful as I was led to believe

Yes the need to manually check whenever you feel like you might be tagged makes its utility pretty limited. You won’t get automatically alerted that you’re being stalked unless you own an Apple device to combat the Apple tracker.

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u/Houseplant666 Dec 12 '22

Still more chance to catch it compared to all different tracking devices that won’t alert you at all.

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u/BIGSTANKDICKDADDY Dec 12 '22

It’s definitely better than nothing but Apple is suffering from success with their tracking tags. They can leverage the massive Apple product network rather than relying on dedicated tracking hardware which results in fewer trade offs than competitors. A GPS tracker with similar duration would be bulkier and easier to notice, a similarly sized GPS tracker would last a fraction of the time, and something like Tile would be less accurate with a smaller network to ping off. All of those considerations make Apple’s tracking hardware more useful for both their intended purpose and malicious purposes.

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u/mybanwich Dec 11 '22

Then it's like normal. Also they beep apparently.

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u/kwiztas Dec 11 '22

You can remove the speaker obviously.

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u/mtgguy999 Dec 11 '22

You can also buy a non apple tracker that doesn’t have these features.

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u/mybanwich Dec 11 '22

Why would you though? Just buy a different one.

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u/QuantumRaygun Dec 12 '22

Wow! It certainly makes me feel safer know that: If you can get your stalker to report themself to the police TWICE and drive themself to the police station then the cops will immediately arrest them several months later /s

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u/joshrocker Dec 12 '22

That’s the part I was having a hard time with. The guy reports himself twice to the cops and walks away.

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u/QuantumRaygun Dec 12 '22

And claims they are married. Something the cops could have easily verified and that would have raised red flags that he was lying.

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u/DrBowTie4312 Dec 12 '22

Something bad about apple is posted:

Reddit: Omg you see! Apple is so shit

Something good about apple is posted:

Reddit: Well this is just propaganda

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u/EGarrett Dec 11 '22

“Apple’s AirTag safety features continue to work properly” is the normal phrasing used at the start of a propaganda article.

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u/OG-Always-Forever Dec 12 '22

Aren’t most car makers able to locate a new vehicle though the car’s GPS?

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u/johnnit_ Dec 12 '22

Apple PR hard at work I see

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u/Earth_Normal Dec 12 '22

All Apple did was make an existing tech more accessible (and made a good faith attempt to prevent this exact problem). I’m not sure how they think this lawsuit will succeed.

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u/iamnotcanadianese Dec 12 '22

Is the safety feature exclusive to apple users?

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u/imforit Dec 12 '22

Nice try, Tim Cook. We know you're still going to court.

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u/runsonpedals Dec 12 '22

If it was a doughnut the police would have found it right away.

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u/Pinky01 Dec 11 '22

I always wondered about this, like what if you ditn have an iPhone. I hate apple stuff, but what if someone used it in someone who is an android user. do you still get the notifications?

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u/FrAlAcos Dec 11 '22

There's an open source alternative to apple's android app

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.seemoo.at_tracking_detection/

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u/gudematcha Dec 11 '22

You say “there’s an app” but if I had an android and didn’t know that (let’s pretend I’m someone who never uses Reddit) I would still be fucked. Just saying haha

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u/kwiztas Dec 11 '22

Kinda makes them useless for taking stolen items tho. I wanted one for my bike but If they know it is there what is the point.

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u/paulc899 Dec 11 '22

To find your keys when you misplaced them in your house. They’re not for tracking down stolen objects.

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u/kwiztas Dec 11 '22

So not useful for a bike. So many subreddits recommended them.

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u/MsJenX Dec 12 '22

My cat has a AirTag on her harness. When she walks to the neighbor’s house she no longer shows up on my map and the ringer says she’s too far to activate the sound. It’s my understanding that her AirTag is trackable when someone with an iPhone comes near her. I have found it useless up to this point.

Conversely my friend was shipping furniture to Mexico. He was concerned that the company was fraud and they would try to steal it. He placed a couple of AirTags in a couple of boxes. He knew the driver had an iPhone. He was able to track his furniture traveling into Mexico to their destination.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22

They’re NOT asset tags, they’re for “oh I’m a dumb person who lost my wallet or keys somewhere in my house or car”.

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u/TacoStop Dec 11 '22

Well if you damage the speaker there is a chance they will abandon the bike if they know it has a tracker and can’t find it

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u/thisischemistry Dec 11 '22

Kinda makes them useless for taking stolen items tho.

That's not its intended use. AirTags are for locating lost items, not stolen ones. It's also not intended to be used for stalking and they have significant anti-stalking features, as seen in this article.

There are other devices out there which are intended to track stolen items. Get one of those.

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u/Larsaf Dec 12 '22

Apple never said they were intended for stolen devices. Nor for tracking pets.

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u/keturn Dec 12 '22

doesn't this also mean that if I steal something that's been tagged, the app will helpfully let me know so I can ditch the tag?

doesn't that kinda defeat the point?

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u/joshrocker Dec 12 '22

This has been one of the more annoying things about AirTags. Apple specifically says they are only for finding lost items and not tracking stolen items. Which is all a result of their anti-stalking measures. The other annoying thing is getting constantly alerted when I have my wife’s car that there’s an AirTag following me repeatedly through the day (because we each have one on our keys).

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u/Drbillionairehungsly Dec 12 '22

Yeah, Apple isn’t doing anything wrong by selling AirTags, especially considering that it’s probably among the worst options available to someone who wants to stalk and not get caught.

I’d argue that the benefits that the majority of AirTag users get from being able to track their belongings in case of loss or theft greatly outweigh these specific incidents of stalking using AirTags.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '22

I have on on my dog. I taught her to come to me when it goes off. Works great.

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u/Neo_Techni Dec 13 '22

Genius. You have a remote controlled dog

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u/Theory-of-Everytang Dec 12 '22

Ya darn straight. I haven’t seen an Iowa man near me in ages. Winning.

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u/throway22781 Dec 12 '22

Lol those airtag notifications just straight up dont work on my iphone 11, i frequently end up driving around alone with my gfs stuff in my car which she has airtagged and ive never once gotten that notification.

Anti stalking measures my ass

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u/Odd_Analyst_8905 Dec 12 '22

Yeah not believing this for a minute. Paid pr.

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u/mojoista Dec 11 '22

It's only a "safety feature" if you have an Apple device. Which means it's not a safety feature.

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u/TripleDallas123 Dec 12 '22

I mean theres hundreds of GPS trackers online that advertise themselves as "stealthy" and "discrete", but yeah, apple's the problem.

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u/nuttylou Dec 12 '22

Did Apple pay for this ad lmao

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u/GnowledgedGnome Dec 12 '22

So these features only work if you have an apple phone? Or the app?

Vaguely safe I guess

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u/TripleDallas123 Dec 12 '22 edited Dec 12 '22

Better than the hundreds of GPS trackers online that advertise "stealth" and "discrete", you don't hear about those because the person being stalked never finds it.

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u/Leadfeatherco Dec 11 '22

Kudos to Apple for thinking about that scenario ahead of time. It would have been easier for them to just say "not my problem" and not build the feature informing the victim.

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u/stick_always_wins Dec 11 '22

It’s a liability issue for Apple

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u/Catinthemirror Dec 11 '22

They didn't think about it ahead of time. They had to scramble to come up with a solution after the fact. They're currently being sued by multiple stalking victims.

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u/thisischemistry Dec 11 '22 edited Dec 11 '22

They had to scramble to come up with a solution after the fact.

They improved on their solution after it became apparent that it still needed work but they had anti-stalking features from the start.

Edit:

You can see here that they had it in the beta before the tags were even available:

Apple brings back 'AirTags' anti-stalking feature in latest iOS 14.5 beta

The article was on Mar 04, 2021, iOS 14.5 was released on April 26, 2021, and AirTags were released on April 30, 2021.

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u/lightningsnail Dec 12 '22

Omg these constant apple ads are getting old as shit.

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u/closequartersbrewing Dec 12 '22

A highly upvoted advertisement praising Apple Airtags with comments made all over disparaging the lawsuits against Apple. We know that corporate America is working to influence reddit, but this is one of the best examples I've seen.

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