Google, Apple gear to raise tracking tag stalker alarm Google and Apple are rolling out an anti-stalking feature for Android 6.0+ and iOS 17.5 that will issue an alert if some scumbag is using a gadget like an AirTag or similar to clandestinely track the user. Basically, if someone places a hidden tracking tag in your bag, car, or something else that you take with you, and your …
Like if police cares.
Airtag for theft is basically useless because law enforcement will not lift a finger and if you go to retrieve it yourself you'll get done for theft and burglary, as you are likely a non-threatening, non-violent type that police can tackle more easily than those actually scary and mean thieves that use curse words and dress funny.
AFAIK one of the triggers is if the tag owner ISN'T present. So hundreds of trackers in suitcases would presumably have their owners on the same flight.*
* Yes, we've all been there... When you know more about where your luggage is than the airline helpdesk they tend to be more like an unhelpdesk.
If the tagged cases are going in th hold they could potentailly be violating a bunch of air transport safety regulations which also apply to data loggers used for monitoring freight being shipped by air.
Specifically if they are powered from batteries containing lithium.
Don’t think so. I just arrived in Spain and all through the flight my phone said my suitcase was still at Gatwick.
When the bags were unloaded in Alicante it suddenly appeared saying it was nearby.
The lovely Ivana also had a tag in her suitcase and i knew nothing about it.
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Quote: "...your phone or tablet detects that unpaired Bluetooth-based tag..."
Yup.....but ALL THE OTHER Bluetooth devices nearby ARE STILL PHONING HOME!!!!!!
....you are still being tracked...............even if this "NEW TECHNOLOGY" is telling you!!!!
What am I missing????
(Well.....I'm actually missing the fact that this news item is MISINFORMATION.......about Apple Corp "doing something".......)
“ MISINFORMATION.......about Apple Corp "doing something"”
Can we please clarify that. Apple Corps was/is the media company that used to sell the Beatles’ music plus some other artists. Nothing to do with Apple Inc. Plus could you post again, in English this time?
Dumb question - but why is your car advertising its Bluetooth black box when not in pairing mode?
My headphones only pop up as a device when I press the wrong button and cause them to go into pairing mode. Otherwise they can my phone do some sort of secret tango using remembered credentials and the connection happens automatically. Do a Bluetooth scan afterwards, neither device will show up (recent Android versions often only transmit their presence openly if you're in the Bluetooth settings).
BTW. If you sit on the train opposite someone with their AirTag in their own pocket, as long as that person has their phone with them, there is no alert. Only if that person leaves you and their AirTag is still there, that’s an alert.
Not sure, but there might only be an alert if you move and the AirTag without its owner follows you.
Whether you stalk a victim, or a thief steals your stuff, the phone and tag can only detect that an AirTag without its owner is near you. It can’t tell whether you are a stalking victim or a thief. So Apple could decide that all devices warn you, whether you are a stalking victim or a thief, or that all devices quietly send your location to the owner of the tag, whether you are a stalking victim or a thief.
So which one do you prefer? And you cannot ask the AirTag owner, because all the stalkers would turn the warning off.
This is going to be a big fiasco.
Imagine you have an Airtag or other tracker in your backpack or something else you're carrying and you get onto a train or bus with others. After a while those sitting near you have "been traveling with an unknown tracker" for long enough that they'll get alerted. And you will be if they're carrying one.
Trackers are great for tracking your personal stuff to avoid losing it or having it stolen. Apple making it part of their global Find My network made it truly useful as no one had to scan for it, just be near it. Unfortunately scumbags had to abuse this to stalk women, and ruined it for everyone. I don't see any way to make trackers useful for tracking something that might be stolen without also being useful for stalkers.
This must be implemented already, at least in Samsung's version of Android.
I had an alert a month ago that there were 2 orphan airtags that were possibly tracking me, with the option to make them sound an alert. Turned out my neighbour had gone on holiday and left their airtags in the house.
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