Can Apple's AirTags Be Used to Track Another Person? (cnn.com) 38
As Mother's Day approached, CNN Business Editor Samantha Murphy Kelly clipped a keychain with one of Apple's tiny new "AirTag" Bluetooth trackers onto her son's book bag, in an experiment that "highlighted how easily these trackers could be used to track another person."
Location trackers aren't new — there are similar products from Samsung, Sony and Tile — but AirTags' powerful Ultra Wideband technology chip allows it to more accurately determine the location and enables precise augmented reality directional arrows that populate on the iPhone or iPad's screen. While AirTags are explicitly intended for items only, Apple has added safeguards to cut down on unwanted tracking. For example, the company does not store location data, and it will send an alert to an iOS device user if an AirTag appears to be following them when its owner is not around. If the AirTag doesn't re-tether to the owner's iOS device after three days, the tracker will start to make a noise.
"We take customer safety very seriously and are committed to AirTag's privacy and security," the company said in a statement to CNN Business. "AirTag is designed with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking — a first in the industry — and the Find My network includes a smart, tunable system with deterrents...." The safeguards are a work in progress as the software rolls out and users begin interacting with the devices. When my babysitter recently took my son to an appointment, using my set of keys with an AirTag attached, she was not informed that she was carrying an AirTag — separated from my phone. (She hadn't yet updated her phone's software to iOS 14.5.) Non-iPhone users can hold their phones close to the AirTags and, via short-range wireless technology, information pops up on how to disable the tracker, but that's if the person knows they're being tracked and locates it. In addition, three days is a long time for an AirTag to keep quiet before making a noise....
Apple said one of the main reasons it spent so much time developing safeguards was the sheer size of its Find My app network. But it's the AirTags' reliance on that broader network that creates much of the need for the safeguards in the first place, said Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and a fellow at the NYU School of Law. "That's because Apple is turning more than a billion iOS devices into a network for tracking AirTags, while Tile will only operate when in range of the small number of people using the Tile app.... The benefits of finding our keys a bit quicker isn't worth the danger of creating a new global tracking network."
"We take customer safety very seriously and are committed to AirTag's privacy and security," the company said in a statement to CNN Business. "AirTag is designed with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking — a first in the industry — and the Find My network includes a smart, tunable system with deterrents...." The safeguards are a work in progress as the software rolls out and users begin interacting with the devices. When my babysitter recently took my son to an appointment, using my set of keys with an AirTag attached, she was not informed that she was carrying an AirTag — separated from my phone. (She hadn't yet updated her phone's software to iOS 14.5.) Non-iPhone users can hold their phones close to the AirTags and, via short-range wireless technology, information pops up on how to disable the tracker, but that's if the person knows they're being tracked and locates it. In addition, three days is a long time for an AirTag to keep quiet before making a noise....
Apple said one of the main reasons it spent so much time developing safeguards was the sheer size of its Find My app network. But it's the AirTags' reliance on that broader network that creates much of the need for the safeguards in the first place, said Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and a fellow at the NYU School of Law. "That's because Apple is turning more than a billion iOS devices into a network for tracking AirTags, while Tile will only operate when in range of the small number of people using the Tile app.... The benefits of finding our keys a bit quicker isn't worth the danger of creating a new global tracking network."
You don't want to create a NEW tracking network. (Score:3, Insightful)
I am sure I have seen a "less informed about surveillance" crowd of people. The ignorance of anyone who trusts a mobile phone not to track them and thinks that somehow AirTags are some sort of escalation is astounding.
Re:You don't want to create a NEW tracking network (Score:4, Insightful)
You don't understand. Before only corporations and governments could track an individual using those devices.
Now anyone can. Totally unacceptable.
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Re: You don't want to create a NEW tracking networ (Score:2)
Electronics for tracking have been cheap enough since the 1970s.
When I was still in school for electronics lab we built short range radio beacons and triangulation circuits in school with maybe $5 worth of equipment, and could be made smaller than half the size of a credit card.
Connected to a car battery, it could work indefinitely or operated on AA we calculated it would potentially work for about a week.
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We don't want the BILLIONS of tracking devices we call mobile phones to...connect....to...more tracking devices...because privacy. I am sure I have seen a "less informed about surveillance" crowd of people. The ignorance of anyone who trusts a mobile phone not to track them and thinks that somehow AirTags are some sort of escalation is astounding.
Being tracked yourself is not the issue of discussion here... the issue is if you can use Airtags to track someone else by putting them in something they own and bring along.
For now, the answer seems to be yes - you could do it with previous tech - like Tile - but apparently Apple's new product works so much better that it is now a potential issue. Probably because Apple just enables the ability to assist the tracking network to every iDevice, while Tile needs you to run an app and give explicit permissi
Re: You don't want to create a NEW tracking networ (Score:2)
Assuming they do solve this issue, and assuming it will work when you are on the other side of town, i still habe my doubts but lets assume, this whole warning the user they are being tracked undermines the entire reclaim-your-stolen-shi
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Air Tags are not designed to track stolen property, they are designed to track lost property.
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I found the devices like tile to be completely unreliable. They use bluetooth. Which means you have to be close by. Some dentist had his $1500 mountain bike stolen, so he thought he could glue Tile to the bottom of his seat and find the next thief should it happen again. Assuming they do solve this issue, and assuming it will work when you are on the other side of town, i still habe my doubts but lets assume, this whole warning the user they are being tracked undermines the entire reclaim-your-stolen-shit aspect of an AirTag.
It's designed to handle "lost" rather than "stolen". If not, features like announcing itself after 3 days or telling someone in the vicinity (e.g. the culprit) that they're being tracked are not exactly desirable.
Other than that, being able to use every iDevice via bluetooth will immediately make it a lot more effective than Tile, where the network only consists of other Tile-users - and only the ones running the app with the necessary permissions.
Oh great (Score:2)
There are hundreds of other ways to track someone â" if someone is so bitched up emotionally that they want to track someone they have an assortment of ways to do it. It has become ridiculous that anytime there is something useful, some idiots come up with scenarios that only happen in movies or very rarely in order to spoil the fun for the rest of us. Fuck you assholes. Stalking wonâ(TM)t be a problem if people were more willing to defend themselves instead of crying for police to help after voti
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No, it's not. AirTags are easier to get and more concealable. They can be purchased in any retail store for about $30 and are small and unobtrusive, making them easy to hide.
GPS trackers are more useful, but are much larger devices and less easily hidden.
If some people s
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Anyhow, AirTags also are no longer sold in Australia, where their removable battery is a choking hazard.
I was shocked that I hadn't heard about that. From 30 seconds of Googling, it seems like one specific office supply store chain pulled the product. You can still buy them direct from Apple and many other retailers. Link. [gizmodo.com.au]
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Anyhow, AirTags also are no longer sold in Australia, where their removable battery is a choking hazard.
Are no products using standard CR2032 batteries being sold in Australia, or is there more to this story? Even my car keys use those...
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Indeed, a GPS cellular tracker is much better at tracking people as they can easily be programmed to send constant tracking info at wanted frequency. They allow you to plot full travels, not only get a single point.
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The problem with GPS trackers is that they have short battery life, are relatively large compared to AirTags, and the GPS signal is extremely weak and easily lost inside a bag or vehicle (you will note that cars have a GPS antenna on the outside for that reason). Also you only get the GPS data when you retrieve the device, unless it has a cellular modem which makes it even bigger, more expensive and shorter battery life.
AirTags benefit from having a network of iPhones and iPads all tracking them, combined w
Re: Oh great (Score:2)
How many people will get tracked this way? Probably very very few. My guess is we will hear a story like someone being tracked once every few months. Who cares?! I mean, I care but they would have been tracked or worse some other way, sorry. Regarding on-person tracking with an airtag, is that plausible? I hardly even carry my wallet around these days, I have no use for a keychain either. How can someone plant an airtag on me, it would have to be injected in me like I am James Bond or something. As for plan
Re: Oh great (Score:2)
GPS trackers have much longer battery life than an Airtag. See reference in my above comment.
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You haven't seen the Samsung SmartThings Tracker, have you? Only $65, 10 days between r
Re: Oh great (Score:2)
Can Slashdot Headlines Be Used To Affect Public Op (Score:1)
Anyone who has any curiousity about technology already knows the answer to headlines that ask a question.
Still more than every other comparable product (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a pretty common pattern -- try to make something just a little bit better than what exists and people will flood your with hate for doing anything at all. It's Heisenberg Ethics -- you aren't linked to a problem until you interact with it, and if you do interact, you're responsible for the entire thing even if you made it a tiny bitter better (because a tiny bit better still is not everything everyone could want).
The article even dances around this
Well gee, so they improved a bit the state of the art relative to what Tile did, but damn it's not perfect so all of those problems are your responsibility. Heisenberg Ethics indeed.
Oh, and perhaps the lamest take -- Apple didn't magically back-propagate software support to older versions:
Either these folks literally don't understand how software updates work or they are just trolling us at this point.
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More likely it had nothing to do with her iOS version, but was because the babysitter didn't carry the AirTag home with her. That's what triggers t
Re: Still more than every other comparable product (Score:2)
The benefits of finding our keys a bit quicker... (Score:2)
The benefits of finding our keys a bit quicker isn't worth the danger of creating a new global tracking network
I am sure that we all need everything done faster and faster - the benefits might outweigh the danger :). We do live in an impatient society after all. Who cares about a little privacy here or there? Faster is better!
That didn't take long (Score:5, Informative)
Apple knew that the press would jump all over the potential "abuses" of the AirTag, simply because it's an Apple product, and Apple stories make the best clickbait.
From the CNN article:
Right, and you could also have given your son his own iPhone with "Find My" enabled (like millions of other parents already do), and you'd not only know where he is, you'd be able to call him too.
In order to head off the inevitable "Apple AirTag is being used by stalkers!" stories, Apple went out of its way made the AirTag useless to them. All you have to do is return home carrying someone else's AirTag, and the AirTag will not only warn you of its presence, it will even make a sound so it can be located. And guess what you can then do to your stalker? Toss his AirTag into a passing bus or taxi, and let him amuse himself chasing it all over the city.
If you really want to stalk someone covertly, for just $10 more than the AirTag costs you can buy a tiny GPS tracker and get location updates via the cellular network every 5 minutes.
https://amcrest.com/am-gl300w-... [amcrest.com]
The Amcrest AM-GL300W-4G is a stalker's dream. In fact, it is specifically advertised as being suitable for tracking people and automobiles. So where's the outrage? That's right ... it's not an Apple product.
There are dozens of ways that a stalker can track someone using modern technology. News organizations in search of clickbait headlines forced Apple into a position where they neutered the most useful application of AirTags: anti-theft tracking. Inevitably another company will market a product that uses the Apple "Find My" network, and then I'll be able to buy the anti-theft Bluetooth tracker that I hoped the AirTag would be. Of course, those same anti-theft trackers could potentially be abused, but I can guarantee that Samantha Murphy Kelly at CNN won't care. It won't be newsworthy, because it's not an Apple product.
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Apple went out of its way made the AirTag useless to [stalkers]. All you have to do is return home carrying someone else's AirTag
And buy an iPhone. Almost like protection money.
Re: That didn't take long (Score:2)
Why would you? (Score:2)
AliExpress has real GPS trackers with a SIM-card for under 10 bucks, telling you the exact location even in the forest, when no bozo with an iPhone is around, like this gizmo needs.
An exception to Betteridge (Score:2)
Normally I hate apple... but this is so silly to m (Score:2)
hahaha.. (Score:2)
A neat trick (Score:2)
Bat-Trak. (Score:2)
That's because Apple is turning more than a billion iOS devices into a network for tracking AirTags, while Tile will only operate when in range of the small number of people using the Tile app.... The benefits of finding our keys a bit quicker isn't worth the danger of creating a new global tracking network.
I think Lucius Fox warned us about this.
Is it magic? (Score:3)
They say they don't store location data, but can still determine if a tag is following an unrelated iPhone while the tag owner is my nearby.
So they're using location history data without storing location data?
Re: Is it magic? (Score:2)
Re: Is it magic? (Score:2)
Just received mine - tracking (Score:2)
Regarding person tracking, I must say that I keep it in mind for use on our 4 year old toddler twins. Not for their daily life but for when, eventually after Covid, we can do real holidays again. Of course we take close care about our kids, but you never know.