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air tags function by utilizing the ad-hoc network all Apple devices create - if you run an Apple device, you’re involuntarily part of this P2P network, even when your device is supposedly off. otherwise, said tags wouldn’t be able to send you status reports from the other side of the planet. that’s just how they and find-my-shit apps work, there are no alternatives to global availability.
all that’s kinda antithetical to the whole privacy thing, so you’ll have to balance the good with the bad and determine how much spyware you will tolerate to gain this sort of convenience.
Do you have a source for the “even when your device is supposedly off” part? I know iPhones have tracking enabled when off, but there’s no way they’re using Bluetooth to find these devices and reporting back. I can’t find a source for that at all.
But even then, it’s still pretty private because there’s no way to reverse track an AirTag. I don’t even think they can do that internally at Apple.
Tile? The brand that predates airtags and where apple stole the idea from and just made it proprietary to their ecosystem
Edit: what a bizarre thing to downvote
tile just had a data breach 👎
Which happens to practically all companies eventually.
The hacker gained access to a customer support platform. Credit card numbers, passwords, and location data are not at risk, says parent company Life360.
True yet still not OK.
That’s also why a lot of us do try to avoid, as much as is realistically feasible, to provide any data to any company that should store it. Hence why a lot of questions here are about self hosting, no cloud, etc. It’s not paranoia, it’s because companies cut corners and as you correctly point out, fail to keep us safe. So it’s not about Tile specifically, they are just yet another poor example. Let’s not defend them nor this kind of practices. If people in the Privacy community are OK with that, we have a rather deep problem.
They asked for an alternative to airtags. I provided one. Doesn’t matter if they were compromised because like I said, everyone is eventually. The data leaked is almost certainly super redundant for almost every user anyhow
They asked for an alternative to airtags. I provided one.
And even though I’m not OP I’m genuinely grateful for that.
Doesn’t matter if they were compromised because like I said, everyone is eventually.
No! That’s the whole point of this Privacy community! If someone is using, using home automation as an example, Apple HomeKit or Roomba or Google Home they will eventually get compromised BUT if they are using something local, e.g Zigbee with HomeAssistant they WILL never get compromised because by the very local only architecture of that solution no data is leaving the home and thus can NOT be compromised.
The ENTIRE reason d’etre of this community is not to say “Oh well… the default solutions are imperfect, we have to shrug and accept the statu quo” but rather provide genuinely alternative.
I understand a lot of people can enter into a learned helplessness mindset imagining that only poor solutions exist and thus, better pick the least worst one, but by doing that we are giving power to Big Tech, surveillance capitalism, etc.
Please do NOT say that “everybody gets compromised” when you actually mean that “the vast majority of people who accept to use a popular solution with trade offs that are not good for privacy”. It sounds like a finicky difference but it’s actually totally different because it shows that it’s not inevitable.
By taking shortcut in your language you limit what’s conceived as possible by others who are asking for help, again, in a Privacy focused community.
- I didn’t realize what community it was because they weren’t specific at all. They just asked for an alternative.
- You don’t seem to realize that it is literally true: everyone gets compromised. I mean not only companies but it also applies to self hosted systems. One example was that my home server got hacked a few years ago. Magically virus filled executables showed up in thousands of my directories. This was a Linux server. Any open port will get hijacked if it is open for long enough.
- This type of product asked about literally does not and cannot exist in a self hosted situation. The only way they can work is if a critical mass of other users are near the device, also using the supporting app, with Bluetooth enabled, that way you have any chance of its location being reported.
- The data breach that happened in this case affected data that almost every citizen has out there anyhow from a dozen other data breaches. Yes it obviously is sometimes due to irresponsible practices but there isn’t much to be done about it now that the data has been out there for a decade.
I know you mean well here but you’re off base and it’s coming across as lecturing me about something you aren’t fully informed about. I am not saying people shouldn’t care about privacy. I’m saying if you want this type of product, all the concerns you’re mentioning here are literally impossible to avoid. The best you could do is find the company with the least number of breaches and then pray they remain that way. But that doesn’t really get you very far.
There are 2 types of companies, the ones who have been hacked the the ones which don’t know they’ve already been hacked g about to be hacked.
Not private
Airbags?
Do you have source of that? I’m curious, nothing wrong with your answer
…airtags* are what were asked about an alternative for. Autocorrect.
Yes, I know and I’ve seen them before but you said apple stole their idea, no? I’m curious to know more
Tile (stylized as tile) is an American consumer electronics company which produces tracking devices that users can attach to their belongings such as keys and backpacks. A companion mobile app for Android and iOS allows users to track the devices using Bluetooth 4.0 in order to locate lost items or to view their last detected location.[1] The first devices were delivered in 2013.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tile_(company)
AirTag was announced on April 20, 2021,[3][4] made available for pre-order on April 23, and released on April 30.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirTag
Apple has stolen most ideas they ever execute. A lot of people believe they do the best job of execution but I don’t buy that in most cases. I mean here’s a perfect example. A product that has been working great with any device for 8 years and here they come with a version that locks you into their ecosystem. I’m good on that.
Uh thanks. I was curious about it, It didn’t really surprise me to know apple stole the idea from someone (like any other big company). Thanks for your answer and time!
Not sure where the disconnect is. You weren’t very clear with your question but yes I did take time to attempt to clear up what you seemed to be asking about.
And no, not every big company flat out steals ideas. Apple is notorious for doing this, but other companies are not. At least none I can think of.
deleted by creator
Put a sticker on what you don’t want stolen saying something along the lines of “airtag equipt.” Thieves want easy targets and if there’s any reason to think a tracker is hidden within it then they will probably move on
Tells them, ‘good shit inside and make sure you throw away the tracker.’
And then go crazy if cannot find tracker.
No, they just don’t care.
Nice, it’s like the “gsp protected” stickers on car windows and highly visible flashing LEDs that indicate the alarm is armed. Not that anyone ever checks if it’s their alarm that makes everyone’s around the car lives miserable.
You can get GPS systems that upload data using a SIM. Only viable if you live somewhere with cheap roaming plans. Last I checked, a local company was selling the hardware (without sim) for 200EUR. The thing I was trying to protect was 120-ish.
I’m leaning towards this but which are private?
None, they’re all on a cell network so your info is registered with the SIM and the location is tracked by the cell provider and they share data with the government and others.
Okay, which are libre? Don’t want some proprietary app to see it. Need privacy when viewing the data.
In my case I use a GL300MA tracker on the Hologram network, and it sends data to Traccar on my server.
https://www.traccar.org/ could be a good starting point.
Kensington? I don’t think an air tag can actually prevent theft (if they see it they’ll remove it - if they don’t see it they’ll still steal your stuff)
For large luggage/containers in third-party storage?
If you are open to building something yourself this might be an alternative (disclaimer: I just know of this project but no idea how well it works): https://www.findmycat.io/
Very nice, thank you!
If you’re outside the US, or where more people use Samsung devices, Samsung Smarttags could be a better choice.
Chipolo. Small company but it works. Doesn’t really help you find stolen stuff but you can be notified and the things can beep loudly if they are distanced from you.
It helps me find my keys and not forget anything when I leave the house. I guess they already paid for themselves by reducing the time I spend backtracking.
They also have an airtag compatible version.
Work fine for finding locally if in Bluetooth range. Not good for finding lost things outside of that. I lost some keys in July last year. Still not found since then.
Apples biggest benefit is the sheer number of phones that can help locate lost items. I was hoping Androids Find my Device network to be the same but currently it’s really lacking.
I can’t recommend them because I haven’t used them, but AFAIK Motorola came out with their own take on trackable tags.
i think there was an android/google alt thats out or coming out
Out for a couple months
Let’s say: there’s a reason nobody’s talking about it
At least right now they are not good
Inwas just looking at these a few days ago and I think there are two companies, Pebblebee and Chipolo. I read the Google network is opt-in (probably a good thing privacy wise but not great for tracking) so they’ll only ping off other phones that have opted in to the network. Samsung has their SmartTag, and Amazon has something as well.
Amazons might be a good choice. I think I read that all the Echos and stuff are apart of their sidewalk network.
