Apple AirTags stalking led to ruin and murders, lawsuit says
arstechnica.com
Dozens join lawsuit alleging Apple AirTags are stalkers’ “weapon of choice.”

Apple AirTags stalking led to ruin and murders, lawsuit says — Dozens join lawsuit alleging Apple AirTags are stalkers’ “weapon of choice.”::Dozens join lawsuit alleging Apple AirTags are stalkers’ “weapon of choice.”

  • kobra@lemm.eeEnglish
    462·
    1 year ago

    Both android and iPhones get alerted to AirTags that follow them and I’ve seen it work extremely well. It even gives the option to play sounds from the AirTags or disable them entirely.

    What am I not understanding that makes AirTags the “weapon of choice” for stalkers?

    • a_fancy_kiwi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      313·
      1 year ago

      The article has a report from at least one person claiming they can’t find the airtag even with the alerts.

      There’s also videos on YouTube that show you how to remove the speaker so without the UWB chip, I could see scenarios where people genuinely can’t find them.

      I’m not making the argument either way, just saying that a problem is there. Whether it’s Apple’s responsibility or not is up to the court

    • YoungLiars@aussie.zoneEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      Isn’t it on android you have to download an app and it only works with the app open? Or has that changed? Edit: that has changed, see response below

      I have two phones, one android (work) and one personal (iOS). They use different accounts so no connections between them. My android has never gone off, even with my bike that has an AirTag. My iPhone has gone off with a work colleagues AirTag but not the android phone which was in the same pocket the entire time.

      • tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.ukEnglish
        6·
        1 year ago

        It’s built into the OS since apple and google agreed common standards for tag detection.

        The google compatible tags (which aren’t launched yet, possibly because of stuff like this) will be detected by apple devices too.

        • YoungLiars@aussie.zoneEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Glad they were so proactive to have a better solution, the app situation was a load of crap. Looked it up and found the setting on my phone and it’s enabled. It appears my AirTag wouldn’t set it off as i have the iPhone with the tag and therefore it is not considered separated. I’ll turn my iPhone off next time I ride my bike to see if that causes it to detect it.

          • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            I’ve definitely seen the alert from Android, with no app installed. I knew about the tags in question however, so it wasn’t an issue. It took several hours to notice however. I’d imagine a false positive is a lot more of an issue than false negatives.

        • steal_your_face@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          If it’s now built into the OS that is great going forward, but how many phones have the latest OS? Like 10%?

    • redcalcium@lemmy.instituteEnglish
      72·
      1 year ago

      How long the airtag has to follow you until you get the alert? If it’s long enough (e.g. a few hours), it still allows a stalker to slip one in your bag and find where you live.

      • capital@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        1 year ago

        Not long at all.

        I had a friend accept the shipment of my vehicle when I shipped it across the country. I couldn’t get there fast enough to accept it myself. I placed an AirTag in the glove box so I could keep track of its progress.

        The first time he drove the truck he calls me up saying his iPhone is saying there’s an AirTag traveling with him which is making noise and (jokingly) tells me he swears he’s not stealing the truck.