Woman accused of tracking boyfriend with Apple AirTag, killing him with car(washingtonpost.com) |
Woman accused of tracking boyfriend with Apple AirTag, killing him with car(washingtonpost.com) |
This argument misses the point that to a non-technically-minded consumer, AirTag made stalking significantly easier not only on a technical ground (Apple's familiar UIUX), but also on an emotional ground -- Apple is an admired premium brand, and instead of buying some sketchy equipment from a no-name seller, one can walk into a pleasantly appointed Apple store and pick an AirTag on a coffee break. It makes the whole experience _feel_ more legitimate and kosher, if not pleasant.
Accessibility of a tool whether on technical, emotional, or legal grounds makes material difference in adoption and usage of said tool.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to the question: is this harmful enough that we should regulate it? Answering that involves weighing the benefits against the harms.
AirTags have plenty of legitimate uses and benefits. Stories such as this article show a very real downside to the technology, but isolated stories are not a great way to make an evaluation. Doom, gloom and death will always make a more compelling story than a million people saving 5 minutes finding their keys.
A traditional tracker needs to provide its own location source and data connection.
Airtags recruit everyone with a smartphone to do the tracking without informed consent.
Also, I think Apple thought harder about this kind of problem than Samsung. They mad their tags beep every now and then because of that.
It doesn’t seem to be enough, though. I don’t see an easy way out of this. They could put a human in the loop when a user asks for a given AirTag too frequently, but that may not be enough, and would make some users unhappy because of the added friction.
[1] https://stopstalkerware.org
[2] https://www.ted.com/talks/eva_galperin_what_you_need_to_know...
But seriously though, this does seem like the kind of thing Apple and Google should collaborate on and establish a standard so that any mobile operating system can notify people of unwanted trackers without requiring the installation of an app.
An AirTag is a dumb BLE chip that screams occasionally, and piggybacks off everyone’s iPhones which already have both GPS and cell subscriptions.
I think this is a better argument against allowing people to have 2 ton motorized killing machines.
It’d take a considerable amount of force to kill someone with an AirTag.
There also feels like a huge difference between your personal device tracking you and that same device tracking anyone who happens to walk by. The dystopian aspect of AirTags is how they repurpose existing Apple devices to create a surveillance network.
It was certainly a concern that people had, and modern news is kinda built to validate concern whenever it can.
There's no equivalent option with AirTags, since they use ambient devices and can be carried without the bearer's knowledge. I understand what you're trying to argue, but I just don't see an equivalence here in terms of stalker enablement.
> If Tracker Detect notices an AirTag that's been following you for at least 10 minutes, the app will then allow you to play a sound from the AirTag so that you can more easily find the physical tracker. [1]
1: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/how-to-tell-if-an-airtag-is...
There's an open source app called AirGuard that runs/scans in the background and sends you a notification if they detect "tracking". It drains some battery, but works okay.
People with cars are the most dangerous human-threat things to me and my family members and that’s why I don’t own a car, don’t drive a car and live a lifestyle in which I very rarely have to get in one.
I wish countries would make the same option easy for everyone. For most people in North America, life is unlivable without a car, currently.
Only carefully trained and regulated professional transport or delivery drivers should be allowed to operate 1~3 ton killing machines. It’s insanity that 16-year-olds and 80-year-olds can with barely any oversight at all.