Most active commenters

    ←back to thread

    A 10-Year Battery for AirTag

    (www.elevationlab.com)
    672 points dmd | 15 comments | 18 Dec 24 18:17 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
    Show context
    jmull ◴[19 Dec 24 19:42 UTC] No.42465013[source]▶
    I know this is useful (for something), but I'm stuck on the plot holes in the motivating story...

    Why didn't they replace the battery when the app complained?

    How long would a thief really keep the AirTag anyway?

    If the thief did keep the AirTag and you tracked them down, then what? A confrontation has a fairly high chance to have a worse result than losing some equipment. You could try to get the police to do it, but that's going to take more time, during which the thief is even more likely to ditch the AirTag.

    Anyway, you're really swimming upstream trying to think of aigtags as an antitheft device. They're really for something lost, not stolen. Generally, they are specifically designed to not work well in adversarial situations.

    replies(28): >>42465128 #>>42465202 #>>42465292 #>>42465303 #>>42465460 #>>42465554 #>>42465750 #>>42465858 #>>42466486 #>>42466585 #>>42466656 #>>42466744 #>>42466798 #>>42466905 #>>42467422 #>>42467653 #>>42467777 #>>42468238 #>>42468266 #>>42469043 #>>42469231 #>>42469724 #>>42470989 #>>42471280 #>>42472799 #>>42472809 #>>42477976 #>>42481533 #
    joshuahaglund ◴[19 Dec 24 20:46 UTC] No.42465554[source]▶
    I've retrieved stolen bikes, one because of an airtag. Showed up with a couple friends standing by but not trying to be intimidating. It's mostly about staying calm and telling the person this is mine, I'm taking it. They always say "no it's my friend's, you're gonna piss him off" or "I just bought this" or something. Maybe you offer some fraction of a "reward" to smooth it along and cut your losses. Don't try to start a fight and it generally goes OK. Also, try not to accuse them of stealing, they'll just get defensive. "It's someone else who is screwing us both, but this is mine sorry."
    replies(3): >>42466818 #>>42466821 #>>42469423 #
    nostromo ◴[19 Dec 24 23:27 UTC] No.42466818[source]▶
    If it’s left anywhere in the open at anytime, you can repossess it legally as well. This happens with auto repossessions all the time. You don’t owe anyone an explanation as it’s yours - just take it if you can do so safely.
    replies(3): >>42466899 #>>42469332 #>>42480492 #
    1. victorbjorklund ◴[20 Dec 24 08:42 UTC] No.42469332[source]▶
    Not everywhere. In Sweden that would be a crime (a little bit depending on what you mean left in the open).
    replies(3): >>42470009 #>>42470159 #>>42475295 #
    2. ◴[20 Dec 24 10:51 UTC] No.42470009[source]▶
    3. kleton ◴[20 Dec 24 11:16 UTC] No.42470159[source]▶
    What kind of anarcho-tyranny is that?
    replies(4): >>42470442 #>>42470960 #>>42471866 #>>42472501 #
    4. j-krieger ◴[20 Dec 24 12:11 UTC] No.42470442[source]▶
    European countries sometimes have a rather repulsive legal system that provides far too much protection to perpetrators.
    replies(3): >>42470997 #>>42471011 #>>42472515 #
    5. wjnc ◴[20 Dec 24 13:39 UTC] No.42470960[source]▶
    The logic is that the current possessor might have acquired the product bona fide and is not necessarily the thief. In order to assess this, you cannot repurpose the product yourself, but need the cops and court involved. It's the oppossite of anarcho-tyranny, it's a law favoring orderly and non-violent solutions of real world capitalist conundrums. Private repossession of stolen property in a 'bear arms' society... are accidents waiting to happen.

    In reality things are not so stiff. My dads bag was stolen from the train. The thief was apprehended on the station. He got his bag back from the cops because it had identifiable information in it. Perhaps a bit light on evidence that the thief was not the owner, but it's not always overly complicated. I think the thief got the right nudge.

    replies(2): >>42471085 #>>42472610 #
    6. unreal37 ◴[20 Dec 24 13:45 UTC] No.42470997{3}[source]▶
    There is no concept in American Law of "acquiring stolen stuff legally".

    If you buy something that was stolen, the original owner has the right to get it back without compensation to you.

    replies(1): >>42471953 #
    7. ◴[20 Dec 24 13:46 UTC] No.42471011{3}[source]▶
    8. j1elo ◴[20 Dec 24 13:56 UTC] No.42471085{3}[source]▶
    > the current possessor might have acquired the product bona fide and is not necessarily the thief. In order to assess this, you cannot repurpose the product yourself, but need the cops and court involved.

    A fun thought experiment is that in the time you might have left your car parked in the street, it might be stolen, sold bona fide, then (by happenstance) parked in the same area, so one day you just go back to it and drive it away.

    I guess in a more practical sense, you could claim that's (more or less) what happened after recovering your possessions after having them stolen... what would happen in that edge case?

    9. transcriptase ◴[20 Dec 24 15:23 UTC] No.42471866[source]▶
    Wait until you hear about Canada. The crown will ruin your life by dragging you through the courts for years for something like that, then drop the charges when it’s obvious they’re going to lose as to not set any precedent to be used against them in the future.
    10. rullopat ◴[20 Dec 24 15:31 UTC] No.42471953{4}[source]▶
    I don't know somewhere else but, in Italy, buying / getting stolen stuff from somebody else is a specific kind of crime as well. You need to give a solid explanation why you have a stolen good.
    replies(1): >>42472747 #
    11. afavour ◴[20 Dec 24 16:33 UTC] No.42472501[source]▶
    It makes sense to me... mostly. The person currently in possession might have purchased it from the thief so taking it from them leaves them in a hole, not the thief.

    More broadly I think it does make a certain sort of sense that a theft should be resolved by the police. Find your item and want it back? Get the police involved. It's just that these days we're all so used the police being completely ineffectual that taking matters into your own hands is the only "sensible" solution.

    12. Ray20 ◴[20 Dec 24 16:35 UTC] No.42472515{3}[source]▶
    Protection from what? No actions are taken against perpetrators' interests.
    13. Ray20 ◴[20 Dec 24 16:47 UTC] No.42472610{3}[source]▶
    >acquired the product bona fide

    Does not change anything. I mean poor guy, became a victim of a fraudster, but what does my bike have to do with it?

    >you cannot repurpose the product yourself

    This is not repurposing, this is its prevention.

    >solutions of real world capitalist conundrums

    There is no conundrums, it is pure tyranny.

    14. balls187 ◴[20 Dec 24 17:03 UTC] No.42472747{5}[source]▶
    Similar, in the US "knowingly" receiving stolen property is a crime.
    15. t0mas88 ◴[20 Dec 24 21:36 UTC] No.42475295[source]▶
    In the Netherlands buying stolen goods is a crime. If you knew or could reasonably have known it was stolen (e.g. a bike with a broken lock, no keys and a low price) you risk a serious fine. If you didn't know it was stolen you just loose the goods. Technically you then have a claim on the seller, but of course you're not going to get anything.

    So stealing your own thing back without the police involved may technically be illegal, but practically if the airtag tells you where your stolen bike is and you have the keys, skip the police and take it. Nothing will happen. The thief or their client is not going to call the police since that gets them arrested or fined.

    Of course you can't go into the thief's house to retrieve your things. Then you do need to call the police first. But the one case I know about someone doing that for a stolen iPhone based on Find My app location, the police showed up quickly and arrested the thief + found lots of other stolen things in their possession.