Android phones can now tell you if there’s an AirTag following you
Android phones can now tell you if there’s an AirTag following you
Google says its own tracker ecosystem is on hold until iOS has the same protection.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/795697
Archived version: https://archive.ph/55yyZ
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230728012552/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/android-phones-can-now-tell-you-if-theres-an-airtag-following-you/
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I know a few people that hide them in their bike frames. Will it tell bike thieves that the tag hidden in the stolen bike is following them?
I would assume so. It's a difficult thing, because I'm really not okay with people covertly tracking others with airtags without their consent, but the it can of course also be used to track stolen items or so.
Feels like a tragedy of the commons sorta thing. Most people would use air tags responsibly, but a small number of people abuse them and thus kinda ruin them for everyone. We can't have nice things because people suck.
Yeah, they aren't really useful for anti theft, but that's the compromise you have to make for safety
Yes, but that already used to happen before if the thieve had an iPhone.
Yes it will, after some amount of time.
I think the solution to this problem is embedding the tag into the frame in such a way that removing it would be destructive or at least highly impractical. That's my plan at least. Waiting for my Chipolo trackers to arrive.
How would you do that, and what'll you do when it runs out of battery?
Embedding it also reduces range by a lot. Gplama did a test
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/aLtWN1Mp2Qc
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.
I haven't done any designs yet. I'm thinking about the steerer tube. It's carbon so it shouldn't impede the RF. Another option is somewhere within the saddle. Or maybe inside a reflector, on the wheel or otherwise. Possibly within a pedal, depending on the style of pedals. Or on the inside of a crank arm. Possibly epoxied to it. When the time comes for replacement, chisel it out of the aluminum, epoxy another one. 🤷
They're not anti theft devices. Never were. They are anti losing my shit devices.
Slap one on your keys, wallet, etc, and when you lose them, you can track them to see where they ended up falling out of your pocket.
If you want a tracking device, pay for one. They'll use a SIM card, be undetectable, and track perfectly without needing a network of phones.