Post by gato on Dec 7, 2023 8:50:24 GMT -5
To combat the ever increasing number of stolen cars, the DC police held an event on Tuesday, where free Apple Airtags were given out. Some believe that an Apple Airtag hidden in one's car is a low budget answer to car theft (or bike theft, for that matter). Unlike LoJack, that requires police intervention (signed stolen car report) before the system is activated, the Airtag gleefully starts singing to you the moment your wheels are misappropriated.
Using Bluetooth and a vast array of iPhones in the population to ping off of, you can, in fact, successfully track your car. Except that the Airtag is specifically designed to prevent this very thing: it will notify the thief via his own iPhone, that he is being tracked. "Airtag found moving with you." (This feature was added to help prevent Airtag stalking incidents that have already occurred).
Presumably, after being notified, the thief would either abandon the car, or pull over and look for the device. This could be a good thing or a bad thing for the owner, depending on how determined the thief is to keep what he stole. Seeing your stolen car as a blip on your iPhone map, it's tempting to just hustle on over and reclaim your property. This has happened already, with shots being fired at or by the bad guys. So, bottom line, a mixed bag for the average person.
Using Bluetooth and a vast array of iPhones in the population to ping off of, you can, in fact, successfully track your car. Except that the Airtag is specifically designed to prevent this very thing: it will notify the thief via his own iPhone, that he is being tracked. "Airtag found moving with you." (This feature was added to help prevent Airtag stalking incidents that have already occurred).
Presumably, after being notified, the thief would either abandon the car, or pull over and look for the device. This could be a good thing or a bad thing for the owner, depending on how determined the thief is to keep what he stole. Seeing your stolen car as a blip on your iPhone map, it's tempting to just hustle on over and reclaim your property. This has happened already, with shots being fired at or by the bad guys. So, bottom line, a mixed bag for the average person.
