Newsletter Archives
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Perturbed by porch pirates? Catch them by using tech.
PUBLIC DEFENDER
By Brian Livingston
With our craze for same-day deliveries, package theft has soared; it cost online shoppers $13 billion in 2023 in the United States alone, according to a Capital One Shopping report.
That’s 119 million stolen packages in the past year, the contents of which averaged $112.30 per parcel. One in seven Americans lost packages in this way, studies show.
Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.40.0, 2024-09-30).
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The best tech secrets of 2022: AirTags, TikTok, Twitter, oh my
ISSUE 19.52 • 2022-12-26 Look for our BONUS issue on January 2, 2023! PUBLIC DEFENDER
By Brian Livingston
Amid my efforts to help you protect yourself against some rather aggressive technologies, I’m glad to report that there’s been at least some progress this year on the worst aspects of our “labor-saving” devices.
Please note: I’m not claiming that my columns by themselves caused any of the changes I describe below. I just report the problems. We can all celebrate when bad tech is improved, whoever may have developed a particular solution.
Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.52.0, 2022-12-26).
This story also appears in our public Newsletter. -
Look who’s stalking 2: Apple responds to AirTag security threats
ISSUE 19.10 • 2022-03-07 PUBLIC DEFENDER
By Brian Livingston
The Apple AirTag, a $29 tracker the company started selling last year, has been criticized by experts for its weak protections against criminals who use the device to stalk people and pinpoint vehicles to steal. In response, Apple posted last month a response that promises only minor upgrades to the gadgets’ software.
Meanwhile, a developer announced recently that he had built — using a few dollars’ worth of electronic parts — an AirTag-like clone that takes full advantage of Apple’s free and worldwide Find My communication network. As an illustration of the weakness of AirTags, the clone easily defeats all of Apple’s existing security and detection systems, including the new features the corporation said last month it was planning to implement in the future.
Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.10.0 (2022-03-07).
This story also appears in the AskWoody Newsletter 19.10.F (2022-03-07). -
Look who’s stalking: Protect yourself from Apple AirTags
PUBLIC DEFENDER
By Brian Livingston
Ever since Apple started selling $29 tracking devices called AirTags last April, criminal types have used them to tail people, pinpoint and heist their cars, and worse — but warnings of planted devices were made available only to iPhone owners. Now, people who have more common phones can find out whether they’re being tracked, too.
The AirTag is a small, plastic-encased device that’s approximately the size of three or four dollar coins stacked on top of each other. It competes with such trackers as the Bluetooth-based Tile Pro and the GPS-based Verizon Humx. But most Bluetooth devices connect only to phones within 50 meters or so, and GPS trackers require you to pay monthly fees.
Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.02.0 (2022-01-10).