Surveillance-Minded Parents Can Now Hide AirTags In Kids Shoes
https://futurism.com/parents-hide-airtags-shoesOpen linkView original on pawb.social385
Comments106https://futurism.com/parents-hide-airtags-shoesOpen linkView original on pawb.socialhttps://futurism.com/parents-hide-airtags-shoesOpen linkView original on pawb.social
"Surveillance-minded" (hereafter, "Helicopter") parents were almost certainly already doing that.
It just required a sharp knife and a tube of contact adhesive previously.
Some shoes even already had compartments in them and came with a toy car that fit in there
I was under the impression this is the main selling point of AirTags. Is there a real market for tracking lost luggage? I see AirTags being sold in every Kid’s store around here.
My dog has one on her collar. She got lost once, after chasing a squirrel, so it was a no brainer. The cool thing is that you can make it go off, by pressing a button, and train the dog to come to you when it chirps. I hope I never need to use it in an emergency, but it's good to know I'm prepared.
That's a great recall cue.
Isnt that chirp kind of loud to be right next to their really sensitive ears? Ive only heard a 3rd party one chirp and it hurt...
The AirTag chirp is not that loud. Yes if you held it right to your ear canal it might be uncomfortable but the distance from neck collar to ear I wouldn’t worry about.
That makes me feel a little better. Dobt they have much more sensitive hearing than we do though?
Any dog’s bark is significantly louder than an AirTag chirp. It’s fine.
Good to know :)
Sensitive like a fine-tuned instrument or detector, not sensitive like a delicate item!
I have one in a very well hidden pocket in my backpack. Because it’s my gig bag, and goes with me when I’m working in the field. If I were just leaving it under my desk all day, I wouldn’t bother. But since it often ends up sitting in the corner of a random room while I run around a building, it has an AirTag buried in it.
This reminds me of an episode of Black Mirror that I can't remember the name of.
I'm guessing Arkangel
Yes! You’re the best!
I'm not concerned with tracking where my kids are with these, but tracking their shoes sounds kinda useful. Average daily conversation in my house:
Are your kids smoking weed?
Nope, kids are just like this
ADHD is a hell of a drug
A lot of people don't know this, but you can put your weed in there.
ah yes the old "hide your weed in the back of your PS2/under your Gamecube" method.
I would rather not
Just give them a phone. Then at least they get something they want with it, instead of ugly shoes.
Young children should absolutely not have a phone, unless I suppose it's completely locked down to chat apps and the tracking I suppose...
My little sister has a phone I set up for her. It has no internet browser, requires permission to download apps, no voicemail, blocks unknown callers, and turns off at 9pm with the exception of contacting family or emergency services.
Phones can be safe for kids if parent just put in the time to learn about parental safety systems and implement them.
More and more governments issue warning about the effects of screens on baby, toddler, and child brain development. The age the Netherlands puts forward now is 14 to have a smartphone, and no screens or very limited until 3 years of age.
How is it different than a TV screen? That was my brainrot when I was growing up.
They issue is less the screen than it is the lack of long-form entertainment. Kids paying attention to an hour and a half movie plot on the screen isn't the same problem as scrolling through endless 30 second videos or accessing social media.
The TV is also bad, but smartphones are literally slot machines in the child's pocket that keep giving them dopamine hits. It's many times worse for the brain.
There are parental controls etc. But the nature of the device is addictive with its notifications and the likes.
Individually targeted and psychologically-optimized content.
Those happen to be the things a child should not be exposed to
Learn to use the tools to protect your kids. iPhones and Android can absolutely be locked down for children. Or just get an apple watch or flip phone. All better than a fucking airtag.
My kids got an apple watch, locked down during school hours, etc.
Better for what purpose? If you’re on holiday in a busy, foreign city, an AirTag for location tracking is much cheaper than this other options.
Can you register a random AirTag?
I'm pretty sure you can't track them through the network. You can't say "track this air tag wherever it goes".
But you could use a device to track the signal the air tag emits as long as you're in range.
Doesn’t the AirTag’s emitted ID cycle and change?
I don't know myself, but it probably wouldn't be too difficult to track the change. Just look at when tracker abc disappears and when tracker xyz takes its place. Unless you're in an area with lots of trackers, it wouldn't be too difficult to weed out the target tracker.
you’re almost always in an area with lots of trackers: every iphone, apple watch, lots of airpods, and macbooks all have UWB-based tracking in them these days
If not, then cool, your parents can give that info to your creepy uncle Steve. He's just gonna pick you up from school one day. Better hope he doesn't bring his white van.
Kids have a distinct advantage in this ongoing consumer tech war between parents and kids.
I don't use TikTok, but I'd be pretty surprised if this wasn't already starting to trend there, along with ideas for where to put the airtags to fool parents.
Maybe just... talk to your kids?
"Can"? Were they physically unable to before?
It is likely more that they are designed to have AirTags with special compartments.
As if kids won't suss that out in two heartbeats.
Depends on their age. I have young kids and love in the inner city. These would be handy but you'd need it in every shoe or it's pointless.
I mean, nice that you have kids. But why are you bringing your mistress who lives downtown into this? :D
The Simpsons already did it.
Bonus points if they had the hard plastic instep so you could grind with them like Soaps.
Parents worry about their kids. All mammals I've ever heard of do this. So when you tell human parents that they can have a better chance of finding their kids if their kids are missing, injured, or abducted, that's going to appeal.
I don't believe it's about sUrVeIlLaNcE at all.
Maybe good in a country that has barily any walking or cycling infrastructure, where every idiot has a gun and where all the biggest serial killers originate from. And where recently your kid can be kidnapped by unmarked unrecognizable fake police and sent to a concentration camp in El Salvador without any legal process.
But when you live in a first world country, your 8 year old should be able to go to school by bike on his own without issues what so ever, would never be kidnapped and would be brought home by a concerned neighbor when he falls and get injured. And would never get lost. You don't need an air tag for that. I've even seen kids go to school on their own in Cambodia without issues. They have over 40 different deadly snakes including 6 types of cobras.
When you treat a kid as an irresponsible criminal and/or idiot, that's what they will become.
The problem in this thread seems to be that children are seen as one homogenous group of people between ages 0 to 17. And you can either send you 5 year old to NYC without any technology by themselves, or check your 17 year old's location 24/7. Forget about any kind of in between.
Like, of course I am "surveilling" my 3 year old, I am literally obligated to. I do this with my own eyes or leave them in the care of a capable person, although depending on the situation (relative, babysitter, daycare) it is still me who is liable when something happens.
I am happy to leave my 8 year old rumble around freely as long as they return home by a time that we agreed on. We can very well also agree on them calling if they won't make it home by the agreed time, and if they don't call or pick up their phone within an additional 30 minutes, I will check their location. This can be a known and agreed upon checking. And it is about mutual trust. I trust my kid at a certain age to be responsible and keep track of time, and be available by phone (unless otherwise agreed or if they don't have a phone to begin with), as well as be where we agreed they would be, without checking. And I hope my kid will also trust me to keep up my side of the agreement. I won't check unless it's past return time and you are not picking up your phone.
This mutual trust is important in families. You deserve privacy, even if you are a kindergartener. This privacy will expand with age. This is like hiding your locked diary or leaving an open diary on your desk. You should not feel the need to hide it because I for sure won't look at it. It is yours. Similarly, you can roam around freely even with an airtag. This thing is not for daily use.
Now, does my 17 year old need an airtag? To me they are basically an adult. Hell knows I had all the freedom in the world at that age. If they feel safer knowing I could check on them when they are on a night out, maybe we can keep a similar agreement as above. But otherwise it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me.
Just because they can, doesn't mean they should. Is there a significant net benefit, or is it just fear monetized?
showing my age but when I was a kid during the summer or on weekends I'd be out of the house all day and just where ever in my town. My parents didn't care as long as I was either home for dinner or by the time the street lights came on. and if I wasn't home for dinner I had to find a phone and call not because my parents would be worried but so they either wouldn't have to cook as much or set out a plate for me.
It's 10 pm, do you know where your kids are?
Glad you're still alive!
I used to voluntarily share my location with my dad for "safety". He ended up texting me his McDonald's orders anytime I was within proximity of a McDonald's.
Nope.
The latter is used to justify the former.
And the latter leads to the former. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Sure, you'll be one of the good ones. :/
Did something similar, had something similar happen, turns out he put a location on Life360 that texted him everytime I pulled into McDonalds, and he would send the same text message each time. Ended up being pretty funny.
When the kids find the “hidden” compartments immediately and swap their tags around.
Parent: "Why does Billy keep going to his friend's house in the other county?"
"It says his left shoe is supposed to be here, but all I see is his right shoe! How is this possible!?"
Seems like an ok idea until you realise you could just give them a key chain, or put it in the small pocket in their trouser if you think they'll lose it. That way you don't have to buy into a whole ecosystem of shoes with a slot that fits an airtag.
Wait. Parents now put airtags in kids their weed compartment?
That's kind of dumb.
Depends on the age. For a 3-5 year old prone to sneaking out on adventures it could be useful.
Just one problem: Mine tended to attempt their escape barefoot.
Put a tag on their ear, I know some biologists that can hook you up
I would actually live to see some sort of comedy sketch do this with one of those giant radio collars from the 1970s lol
The shoe in the screenshotted video looks sized for an older kid, though.
My friend who has a non-white son is considering something like this just in case an ICE kidnapping happens.
A bit of a cynical take, but it wouldn't surprise me if ICE started throwing away shoes and phones onto the roadside.
It's only a matter of time before they start building piles of children's shoes
Oh absolutely
Wouldn't that make it easier to figure out where it happened
Sure, but knowing ICE took your kid doesn't really do much to help get them back.
ICE is now an extrajudicial secret police with even less oversight than the actual police. Even if someone knows ICE kidnapped their relative, nobody in the current administration is going to hold them accountable if they decide to lie and say "no we didn't". It took months to get back Abrego Garcia, and that was with the public eye on the situation and the entire Democratic Party pressuring them. For every one Abrego Garcia, there are thousands of people who are still unjustly locked up in a concentration camp.
Don't you americans have guns? Just take your kid back by force
If you need to spy on your kids to keep tabs on them, you're a shitty parent. You should be able to discuss enabling Find My (assuming they have an iPhone) on their phone and why that's required (by you) openly.
Too many inept people have children. That's a large part of why society is in such decline.
The USA is forcing women to have kids.
Truer words have never been spoken
Yes, now more than ever. But inept people had children who they raised to be thoughtless party-followers rather than free-thinkers and that's why Roe v Wade was overturned.
What an unnecessary and disproportionately rude response to what they're saying.
Special needs is not something every person out there considers daily along with its ramifications for you to be attacking whoever forgets when it's not part of their lives when it only affects a small fraction of school-aged children. Even I forget, despite growing up with a non-verbal autistic kid, and even then he wasn't running around getting in trouble for me to even consider this scenario.
You don't need to be a helicopter parent to explain to your kids that you want to be able to find them if needed. And you don't need to monitor them just because that feature is enabled. A reasonable parent can require the feature be enabled and only use it when there's cause.
I maintain that if you need to hide your tracker from your child, you suck as a parent. And if your kid has special needs that make this untenable, that's obviously different from what I originally said broadly about most parents.
I am sure most people are considering doing this have elementary aged children. A $20 tag feels like a better option than a $1000 phone. I'd prefer putting it on a backpack than in a shoe though.
All parents spy on their children. That doesn't make you a shitty parent. What you do with that info and how you handle it does.
I swear these are apple guerrilla marketing articles. Air tags in the shoe is so stupidly expensive for the task.
Imo it’s not that it’s expensive, it’s that the kid is going to get an alert that there’s an AirTag following them, and they’re gonna be like “wtf”. Just share your find my location via phone.
Is there an open sources solution for GPS tracking devices that size? Because I feel like we need something to counteract people willing to trust Apple to track people and things everywhere.
Ehgh these days that's not terrible
This is obviously for little kids, not teenagers sneaking out.
As a parent with small children, a subtle fear of them getting lost or kidnapped is always at the back of the mind.
Hey Billy want to come to cool sex drug party? Aw I cant my mom will know. Oh Billy don't ya know ? You gotta rip that out and attach it underneath your school bus seat.
Joking but in all honesty kids are smart and creative. As such most will find ways around this. They'll even come up with a slang word for these like "narc shoes" or something
"surveillance-minded parents"... Are they trying to put a negative spin on it?
Knowing where your underage kid is is a must these days. Lots of crazy people out there.
uh, statistically there are less crazy mfs than there were 30 years ago. we just weren't hyper connected. so yes, I would hope they're putting a negative spin on it. Fuck sake, my sister wouldn't let her 16 year old boys walk to the end of the cul-de-sac for fear of them being kidnapped. This shit is so god-damned stupid.
My kid is 8. I like to let him roam free in the neighborhood, but I also want to be sure I can keep track of him, or locate him if he disappears. I don’t see how this is a bad thing.
wtf at 16 I was doing vacation alone with my then girlfriend in another country were we travelled to by train lol
Just because your sister is hyper vigilant, doesn't mean having the capacity to track your children is wrong. People have different lives and live in different places. Just because this tool has no value to you doesn't mean it is wrong.
Yeah. Your surveillance-minded family members.
These days they have phones on them. Imagine raising a kid in the 90s or earlier.
Phones can be taken. It's less improbable to the shoes to be taken.
I'm saying my mom let me go outside and play with friends when there weren't even phones you could just put in your pocket and be available. Whoever's yard you were hanging out at, their parents said it was dinner time and that's how you knew to go home too.
Ya gotta have SOME level of trust for your kids, otherwise you'll never have a healthy relationship with them.
I think you're one of those crazy people. Honestly, no one with that level of control obsession should be allowed to have children.
You're thinking wrong.
You guys are confusing safety with surveillance because of the obvious clickbaity title of the article.
Having the option to know where your children are is not the same as controlling them. Parent intent matters and any tool can be abused, which doesn't mean the tool is wrong.
You're teaching your children to accept highly invasive surveillance. And for what? Just so you can surrender to a moral panic about stranger danger, when actual rates of childhood abduction and abuse are at historic lows. You're failing to properly raise citizens of a healthy democratic society. Instead, you're raising children to accept living in an authoritarian society. If kids grow up with their own parents spying on them, why would they ever think the government and corporations spying on them is wrong? You surrendered the freedom of your own children, just to give in to your own irrational insecurities. But you tell yourself that your case is different, that you're violating their privacy for their own good. This is exactly what every authoritarian government tells their citizens. It's for your own good; that's what they always say. You are failing to teach your children to have the values necessary to be citizens in a healthy democracy.
The road to Hell is paved with "for the children."
So you're saying that parents are more cautious than ever, and childhood abduction rates are at an all time low, and you don't think maybe those two things are related?
Do you also think we should stop vaccinations when the diseases they protect against are at historic lows?
Besides which, the overall rate of child abductions only matters if we're talking about the measures that society should take.
On a personal level, if my child got abducted and I didn't do everything in my power to prevent that, I doubt I'd be comforted by the knowledge that it was extremely unlikely to have happened. I wouldn't walk into my child's empty bedroom and say to my grieving wife, "Man, what were the odds?"
I don't want to actively track their every move because I'm not a psycho, but there's no downside to giving myself the ability to find them in an emergency.
They’re AirTags in shoes, dude. Kids aren’t learning to submit to authoritarians because of Sketchers, they’re just finding their shoes faster.
And that's what the proles told each other about telescreens.
"It's just a telescreen dood, just chill."