Apple Introduces AirTag

Re:Apple Introduces AirTag by mooman219 on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @06:52PM (#26883001)

This seems like a problematic situation. In a vacuum I can see how they want to mitigate the stalking risks, but as of right now, unless you have a recently updated Apple device then, then you're completely ignored by the stalking mitigations. There's nothing official from Apple on the Google Play store that would mitigate that situation as well. This just seems like a low barrier to entry stalking tool on the extreme side of use cases for people Apple doesn't have business interests with.

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Re:Apple Introduces AirTag by kelnos on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @01:52AM (#26885866)

I thought I read that the tag itself will start beeping if it's not near its owner for too long, and the tag has been moving around? Not sure what "too long" means, but if it's short enough, that should foil stalking attempts if the potential stalkee doesn't have an iDevice.

Edit: looks like it doesn't start beeping for three days (though Apple can change this server-side if they decide three days was a bad choice), which seems like way too long. A stalker could probably make good use of this in just a few hours, let alone three days.

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Re:Apple Introduces AirTag by katbyte on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @08:35PM (#26883926)

I presume the location info is only collected if its marked as "lost" - at which point if the tag connects to apples network via someones phone, it'll prompt them. If its marked "lost" and sending location with no iphone nearby and is moved it beeps.

The stalking potential is greatly reduced if the victim has an android as the location will only be sent when its detected by an iphone.

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Re:Apple Introduces AirTag by angry_octet on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @12:39AM (#26885469)

The location information is updated whenever it is seen by an iDevice. The iDevice participates in this without its user's explicit permission or knowledge.

If the stalkee has an android they will never know. Their position will be snitched by every iDevice they come near.

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Re:Apple Introduces AirTag by angry_octet on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @10:49AM (#26890367)

From the Heinrich et al.paper:

"Lost devices. Devices that determine to be in a lost state start sending out BLE advertisements with a public key to be discovered by finder devices. Devices are considered to be lost when they lose Internet connectivity.

Third-party accessories [6] are small battery-powered devices that can be attached to a personal item and are set up through an owner device.

Accessories are determined to be lost when they lose their BLE connection to the owner device. Finder devices.

Finder devices form the core of the OF network. As of 2020, only iPhones and iPads with a GPS module are offering finder capabilities. Finder devices can discover lost devices and accessories by scanning for BLE advertisements. Upon receiving an OF advertisement, a finder creates an end-to-end encrypted location report that includes its current location and sends it to Apple’s servers."

Elsewhere, it is clear that this operates even when flight mode is enabled.

If you can't stand criticism of Apple, please fuck off back to reddit and fanboi there.

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