From when this was posted yesterday:
It’s an interesting question. How much focus should be on apple for providing a technology with a valid use case, as opposed to the systemic issue of the authorities ignoring stalkers and harassers?
Keep in mind that each airtag has a direct link to the identity of the stalker themself. It would take near zero effort for the authorities to actually prosecute these assholes. Instead, the cases are ignored and the stalkers emboldened, until the victims have to seek refuge in any way they can.
fartsparkles@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
GPS and VHF trackers have been used to stalk people for way longer than AirTags and have zero safeguarding features. And Tile, at least last time I used one, had zero safeguarding features and are pretty just exactly the same product as AirTags.
This all seems a bit frivolous. Are gun makers responsible when their products are misused to murder? Or knife makers?
Seems funny that Apple are the ones getting sued and not the tools of destruction used to end life. It’s like suing the car manufacturer of the car the murderer used to get to the scene.
echo64@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Here’s the thing about all this. Yes, tech existed before airtags. But apple made the tech incredibly accurate, incredibly cheap, and marketed the hell out of it.
On top of that, the protection features have been massively lacking, especially around people who do not use iPhones.When they first came out, a few companies did tests on their employees around air tags. They would slip air tags into their car. The end result was that some people noticed, especially iPhone users. Many did not.
Undoubtedly, there are people dead today who would be alive if airtags didn’t exist or if apple had done more.
And yes, we do hold companies up to some level of responsibility. Of course we do.
lol3droflxp@kbin.social 1 year ago
It’s not like there aren’t any trackers that lack any and all protection. I don’t really see the manufacturer at fault here.
dependencyInjection@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Undoubtedly, there are people dead today who would be alive if hammers didn’t exist or if manufacturers had made them softer.
Undoubtedly, there are people dead today who would be alive if paracetamol didn’t exist or if chemists had done more.
Undoubtedly, there are people dead today who would be alive if cars didn’t exist or if the auto industry didn’t lie for years about the dangers of leaded fuel.
cosmic_slate@dmv.social 1 year ago
What more do you want as a solution? This FUD is unreasonable.
They provide an Android app to detect AirTags following you, they give notifications about AirTags following you, if you give the tag to law enforcement they are more than willing to determine who owns the Apple ID of the tag owner, and if you suspect you’re being tracked, they give instructions on how to find and disable the tag.
Source: support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227
stardust@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Yeah, this type of tech is way more accessible than it was before, which isn’t the problem. It’s that Apple has not done enough to provide safety to users from airtags if they aren’t using an Apple product. This isn’t one of those techs that should be gated behind a walled garden because of the potential consequences to unsuspecting targets.
Apple needs to break from their usual walled garden approach when it comes to their tracking technology.
TenderfootGungi@lemmy.world 1 year ago
But they have added protection features, unlike virtually every other option. Yet they are the ones being sued? It does not seem fair.
DreadPotato@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
It’s not really misuse, the intended purpose of a gun is to kill someone/something, that’s literally what they designed to do.
fartsparkles@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Kinda similar to AirTags with tracking things.