“If by ‘core functionality’” you mean assistance in helping to find lost objects, the answer is yes. It is possible for Apple to make further changes that would neuter the ability of AirTags to be used as stalkerware-adjacent technology, such as limiting access to the Find My network, but that comes with a cost. The company also reduced the time it took AirTags to beep if they were left inactive and inert. An Android app, Tracker Detect, has been launched, allowing Android users to proactively scan for AirTags if they feel at risk. In the interim, Apple has made several changes to make AirTags less creepy. In an interview with the Washington Post last year, Galperin shared that Apple had not considered the impact AirTags may have on domestic abuse situations at the start. Cheap too, for the determined… /PTNjOQKD0I I mean, any creep can pop one of those into a car, a bag, etc. Since then, they have fixed some of those problems, though not all of them.”Īpple’s new device #AirTag seems like a stalker’s delight, doesn’t it? “The EFF has taken the position that when Apple debuted the AirTag, there were unacceptable gaps in its antistalking mitigations that made it easy to use as a tool for stalking. “The ubiquity of iPhones and the Find My network is what makes the AirTag especially powerful for stalking in a way that goes beyond what we have seen in previously existing physical trackers,” Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), told Digital Trends over email. Apple just appeared to underestimate the potential of what exactly it was shipping. AirTags may not be particularly unique, but they do exactly what they are designed to do - and they do it well. Consider smartphones or tablets, smartwatches, NFC payments, Ultrabooks - Apple is known for barging into a product sector, mainstreaming it, and vastly increasing its popularity. AirTags are a problem because they’re an Apple product. On the one hand, it’s easy to argue that people are ragging on AirTag because it’s an Apple product, and Apple is an easy punching bag. An Apple problem Image used with permission by copyright holder Now they do, and Apple is going to need to help find a fix,” Oliver Haslam wrote on Apple-focused tech site iMore. They probably never knew trackers existed until Apple made one. It’s the one that your average creep knows exists and is now feeling clever enough to slip into a woman’s bag or stick to a fancy-looking car. “As with smartphones, tablets, and wearables before it, AirTag is the first of its category that non-tech people care about. While Apple Insider is correct that the company did not invent digital stalking, it is far from blameless in failing to foresee and properly account for the consequences. GPS-based tracking devices are readily available - even on Amazon - and can be used to stalk victims without the anti-stalking mechanisms that Apple’s devices provide.” AirTags, while inexpensive and effective, are not solely responsible for ushering in a new era of surreptitious surveillance,” an Apple Insider editorial said. “It would be a mistake to assume that these reports signal a new wave of stalking. Far from only being useful for locating lost iPhones, with Find My, AirTags gain a larger effective range, letting anyone who drops an AirTag find your approximate location as long as you’re near an Apple device. What sets Apple’s product apart from others is the power of the extensive Find My network. Even Nokia had a Treasure Tag for very much the same price back in the day. ![]() Tile, for one, has made a business out of it. ![]() ![]() Why the lawsuit against Apple’s AirTags may be bigger than you realizeĪpple’s AirTags aren’t unique in conception the concept of unobtrusive trackers has existed for years. government is now using AirTag trackers to spy on packagesĪirTag helps flyer find his AirTag – but not his missing wallet
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