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Apple Releases 'Tracker Detect' App to Prevent Android Users From Being Tracked by AirTags
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How do you check if you’re being tracked by any number of commercially available trackers?
Sure, they can use a gps tracker if they're willing to spend money on the monthly fee. And yes, they can dump an iPhone in their bag and hope their target somehow doesn't notice an iPhone in their bag. Airtags are just smaller, easier, and cheaper.
Very good app indeed. Now anyone can identify and detect an AirTag!
I wouldn't put an AirTag on my child given that its purpose is not to help find my missing child. Its purpose is to help find my missing car keys.
Aye. But, in AirTags context, "lost" trumps "stolen", and so this is the angle they are using. People here are confounding the two, or otherwise ignoring "stated intent" and substituting "personal preference". Not the same thing.
I'm quite certain not a single one of those statements is true. And even if any of them are, you've made no point.
I am thankful for this tread, I was considering Airtags, but am just going to pass on them now. Not reading about them much before, I thought a user had to declare them lost for them to ping, and be viewable on the network by other users. Had no idea that me Simply leaving them behind makes them locatable by anyone with an app.
I am fairly certain that I do not want these devices, as I originally intended on attaching them to keys (Keys for my own car not my rental), put in smaller bags when I travel for work or vacation. In addition to those, I wanted to attach them to some other items when I travel to help remind me to keep them when I check out of a Hotel, rental car, or transport to the Airport.
Since I often lock bags in my Rental car when I go into restaurants or other quick shopping stops, I don't want these devices alerting potential thieves that "Hey there are definitely some valuables in this parked car, please break into it and take them".
Regarding comments stating that Airtags were never intended to track stolen items.
There are many awesome & amazing use cases that have been accepted for countless other devices / products over the years that could be classified as bonus features or life hacks. While I haven't purchased tags or Tile yet, I was considering the product for this exact reason, and for situations like some posters have outlined where it helped them retrieve a stolen item. It wouldn't be the primary reason I purchase this product, but a nice bonus perk for when I travel and may have something larger (bag or otherwise) swiped from me, or my locked rental car.
To Nerf these devices, or remove such bonus functions makes them far less useful for me.
Using an Air tag as a stalking device
Okay, I agree this is a concern, and I am sure if left alone, these devices could, and would be used in some situations like that. However, (without empirical data) I would assume more individuals are at risk of having their hotel room , rental, or locker broken into using these tags, as opposed to being stalked by them.
A Question
So one question for those that do have Air Tags, Does the notification of items being left behind come in faster than similar notifications for iOS or Mac devices left behind? Meaning, is it a quick notification when you are only a few feet away, or is it as reliable (or unreliable in my case) as the phone, iPad, or Mac left behind notification.
I am fairly certain that I do not want these devices, as I originally intended on attaching them to keys (Keys for my own car not my rental), put in smaller bags when I travel for work or vacation. In addition to those, I wanted to attach them to some other items when I travel to help remind me to keep them when I check out of a Hotel, rental car, or transport to the Airport.
Since I often lock bags in my Rental car when I go into restaurants or other quick shopping stops, I don't want these devices alerting potential thieves that "Hey there are definitely some valuables in this parked car, please break into it and take them".
Regarding comments stating that Airtags were never intended to track stolen items.
There are many awesome & amazing use cases that have been accepted for countless other devices / products over the years that could be classified as bonus features or life hacks. While I haven't purchased tags or Tile yet, I was considering the product for this exact reason, and for situations like some posters have outlined where it helped them retrieve a stolen item. It wouldn't be the primary reason I purchase this product, but a nice bonus perk for when I travel and may have something larger (bag or otherwise) swiped from me, or my locked rental car.
To Nerf these devices, or remove such bonus functions makes them far less useful for me.
Using an Air tag as a stalking device
Okay, I agree this is a concern, and I am sure if left alone, these devices could, and would be used in some situations like that. However, (without empirical data) I would assume more individuals are at risk of having their hotel room , rental, or locker broken into using these tags, as opposed to being stalked by them.
A Question
So one question for those that do have Air Tags, Does the notification of items being left behind come in faster than similar notifications for iOS or Mac devices left behind? Meaning, is it a quick notification when you are only a few feet away, or is it as reliable (or unreliable in my case) as the phone, iPad, or Mac left behind notification.
In Canada, the rate of stalking is 59/100k vs 1400/100k for theft. So yes, theft is more prevalent than stalking.
Stalking by air tags will be a rounding error at best, and fear mongering by the media.
Exactly my thoughts. I bought one of these to keep tabs on some really valuable equipment. Apple is curating easy-to-use notifications for thieves, making crime easier and easier.
Any thoughts on workarounds? I was considering wrapping the tag in some kind of sound-dampening material, but this immediately reduces the ideal, discreet, coin-like profile of the device.
The approach is fundamentally questionable. The vast majority of people will use this technology to good ends. And a majority of the majority will even use it to thwart crime. However, Apple has decided to design their product based on the minority of users and the possibility that this comparatively tiny group of people might commit a specific crime (admittedly, a particularly bad one). The decision is stupid from a positive path business perspective. I am sure, however, the legal team is pleased with the "solution" to potential exposure.
No, but I also don't think they should come back in after I buy them and force a change and then be like, oh nope I guess they work different now; too bad you're already past your 14-day return window for the product you thought you were buying. If you can force a product to change after I buy it, then I should always have the option to return it for a full refund if I don't like those changes.
I didn't buy any, and with all these "updates" I'm not going to. And putting a little hidden tracker on your devices as an anti-theft measure actually makes a lot of sense. But since AirTags are no longer hidden from anyone who wants to steal your valuable stuff, then like I said in my original comment, yes you just happen to be right. It no longer makes sense to use AirTags as an anti-theft measure.
For anti-theft I use things like insurance and Find My app. There are plenty of GPS tracking devices out there but the good ones (GPS-based) require subscriptions so I just try to be careful rather than spend monthly fees.
The fact is that we are much more likely to leave something behind and simply lose it than we are to have it stolen from us and people just aren't being pickpocketed the way popular TV and movies would have us believe. Sure, if you leave your wallet on the ground there is always the chance that a dishonest person will take it before an honest person hands it into lost and found but AirTags should alert the user that they left something behind before anyone could even find it if the settings are set right.
The AirTag inside my dog's collar and not viewable unless they remove the collar but I'm worried more about my dog running away than being stolen. Of course my dog is also chipped which isn't good for tracking but is good once somebody finds her lost.
Yah, this is getting confusing. Seems to enable misuse and abuse of the whole tracker ecosystem. This app gives nefarious folks tools to actually find valuable items.
But maybe the phrase "separated from its owners" is the key here. For example, a thief couldn't search someone's house for valuables that are tagged because those items are nearby the owner's other connected devices, so they would not be revealed. I hope that's how it works.
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It never actually did, is my point. These features have been around or known to be on the way since day one.
Again, I never lose stuff of value or importance, and my remotes just don't go missing. I'm just careful. I placed everything back to where their typical location once done.
I only lose accessories, like hats or mittens in coffee shops, etc., and maybe umbrella every few years. They are not worth going back for, so I wouldn't bother tagging them. I can almost always know where I left them, and I know they are almost always picked up by someone else if I were to go back for them. They are not stolen, just taken. People like my accessories...
For things of value and importance, I would love to tag them. Such as DSLR enclosures, suitcases, strollers, pets, packages, bikes, ski bags, trailers, etc.
Mine dropped out of my bag when I knocked it over while refereeing a rugby game.
It was only later that evening I realised I didn’t have the keys. A dark field with no lights, find my and air tags on my keys found them pretty damn quick
I clip it to my belt and attach it to me with a tether.
My keyring has a smart card authenticator thingy on it for work. So, I can't loss it and I can't have anyone have access to it.
If you never lose stuff of value and importance, why do you want to tag stuff of value and importance? If you’re getting those things stolen it sounds like you do have a problem taking care of them if they’re not getting stolen, it sounds like you don’t really need to tag them. Not trying to argue, just trying to figure out your use case.