How to use AirTag for theft prevention?

Hi - have Apple fixed the issue with AirTag's disclosing their presence in a theft situation yet?


I was reading Tile have a solution for this now. Can see some old threads that AirTags haven't previously been able to do this.


Have Apple fixed this/caught up yet??


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

AirTag

Posted on Dec 13, 2024 6:12 AM

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Posted on Dec 13, 2024 8:57 AM

Apple did NOT design these AirTags as anti-theft devices so I doubt Apple will "fix it" any time soon. On the other hand, this "presence" feature, is designed to thwart stalking.


Any "solution" you came across on-line, that would disable the notifications to a thief (or anyone else) really doesn't work. The Tile pretty much works the same as the AirTags, so I doubt that they would be very useful as an anti-theft device either.


For anti-theft, you should consider looking at devices that are based on GPS technology, not Bluetooth.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 13, 2024 8:57 AM in response to Mike75565466645

Apple did NOT design these AirTags as anti-theft devices so I doubt Apple will "fix it" any time soon. On the other hand, this "presence" feature, is designed to thwart stalking.


Any "solution" you came across on-line, that would disable the notifications to a thief (or anyone else) really doesn't work. The Tile pretty much works the same as the AirTags, so I doubt that they would be very useful as an anti-theft device either.


For anti-theft, you should consider looking at devices that are based on GPS technology, not Bluetooth.

Dec 13, 2024 9:31 AM in response to Mike75565466645

Mike75565466645 wrote:

Fingers crossed they address this soon.
Pretty flawed product until this is resolved IMO

It is not a theft prevention device and is simply to assist in finding lost items. The alerts other iPhone users see is beneficial not only for locating the AirTag, but also to prevent unwanted tracking of a person that is a security risk.


There is simply nothing for Apple to fix when using the product for what it is designed for.

Dec 13, 2024 8:03 AM in response to Mike75565466645

doubt it, it's by design to make sure people do not slip airtags into purses of people they wish to stalk


so I don't believe anyone at apple are working at resolving your problem


but you can reach out to them about your request using their official support channels


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Dec 13, 2024 4:01 PM in response to Mike75565466645

AirTags originally did not have the warning. As a result AirTags were used by stalkers without the stalkee’s knowing. So Apple added this feature to protect against stalking using AirTags. I think that is a much more valuable function than warning a thief that there is an AirTag in the loot. Any competent thief would assume there was, anyway, and act accordingly.

Dec 13, 2024 10:04 AM in response to Tesserax

Tesserax wrote:

Curious ... what "solution" does the Tile provide. Can you provide us with some specifics?

It turns off the ability for a person to be notified if they are currently being tracked or any ability to locate the Tile. Not something you would expect from a company that values a persons privacy and more importantly, their safety.


If a Tile is some how found by a person they can take it to law enforcement and they can provide a subpeona to Tile for more information, but that certainly will not prevent anything bad from happening to that person.

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How to use AirTag for theft prevention?

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