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Comment by akomtu | Hacker News Reader

Legislation is the proper protection here.

The tracking using Airtags has very little to do with Apple or any entity that could be controlled via legislation. Airtags themselves don't allow a non-owner to access location data anyway.

The tracking via Airtags is just putting a device on someone's person without their knowledge. That is already illegal but unless you know a crime has been committed you are SOL.

Not to mention you can detect an airtag, cellular devices your out of luck

Of course you can detect a cellular device. You mean, can't detect with an app on your phone.

Kidnapping is already illegal. Curious, it still happens

Name one company in the US that's built business around kidnapping.

Right Direction (http://www.rdas.net/)

I’d like protection against devices not made by US companies too

Well, since Apple isn't owning its own phone production, that would have interesting consequences, wouldn't it?

Is there a specific policy you think should be legislated that would prevent unwanted tracking?

Civil and commercial penalties would be a start

Isn't it already illegal in most places to put tracking devices on people without their knowledge?

I don’t think it actually is / or at least is ambiguous in many states.

A blanket ban on hoarding, storing and selling personal data for any purposes other than natsec. Basically, treat personal data like nuclear materials in the laws.

How does that relate to AirTags (or similar devices, like Tile)? The companies that make these trackers aren't selling the data to anyone external, only displaying it to the person who bought the device.

Tracking someone like that would be a felony, ideally, with an order to stop operations for the company who's facilitating it. Using my analogy above, that's like dropping a bag with nuclear waste into someone's pocket.

> with an order to stop operations for the company who's facilitating it

So, you want to shut down all manufacturers of phones, GPS devices, and Bluetooth devices? Because that's what you're asking for here.

That should be a clear indication your analogy is garbage...

Couldn't this fall under stalking legislation?

I wasn't onboard at first, but I actually think that's a pretty reasonable take to have on it. Apple should be allowed to implement Find My, but only as an open standard that other manufacturers can implement so they can also have safety features. Simply notifying every iPhone isn't going to stop someone from putting it in a kid's backpack, tracking your vehicle, or any other obvious edge case. There are lots of solutions here, but all of them involve Apple tipping their hand: something they've vehemently opposed in the past.

As of spring 2021 they actually opened up the Find My spec for third party manufacturers [1] - that’s how those electronic bikes and headphones can have built-in Find My tracking now.

[1]: https://developer.apple.com/find-my/

Government intervention is not the answer to everything. It is slow and inefficient.

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