In practice it does not. If you have had something with FindMy tracking stolen you may know what apartment block it's in, but not what unit.
Police won't or can't do anything if it could be in multiple units or would require any kind of warrant for the building as well as the specific unit you think it's in.
If you're "lucky" some might chaperone you knocking yourself, which itself is not something most want to entertain.
On account of police policy, AirTags are effectively useless for actually getting anything stolen back. You'll get more use out of them in filing your insurance claim if the theft of the item is covered under for example your homeowner's insurance policy.
That's only a problem if the stolen property is in an apartment and not a house or driveway. And even in the apartment case it could probably be used in combination with other evidence (if available) to obtain a warrant, though you're correct that in practice police don't often have the bandwidth to investigate property crimes to that degree.
why should protecting my belongings from thieves be illegal?
> You shouldn't go get back your belongings from a thief anyways.
you can also send the police to the thieves if you know where they are
seriously, there are like 10 stalkers worldwide but 2 billion thieves. most likely any stalking story was made up by thieves because they hate if people get their stuff back...
In the UK 1 in 7 has been stalked. Usually the victims are women or young people.
The second link says that in the western world 2-15% of the population have been stalked.
> You shouldn't go get back your belongings from a thief anyways.
And the police shouldn't either? Seems like knowing the location of your stolen property would help with getting it back in most cases.
In practice it does not. If you have had something with FindMy tracking stolen you may know what apartment block it's in, but not what unit.
Police won't or can't do anything if it could be in multiple units or would require any kind of warrant for the building as well as the specific unit you think it's in.
If you're "lucky" some might chaperone you knocking yourself, which itself is not something most want to entertain.
On account of police policy, AirTags are effectively useless for actually getting anything stolen back. You'll get more use out of them in filing your insurance claim if the theft of the item is covered under for example your homeowner's insurance policy.
This depends on where you are. In Florida, the police will absolutely go get your stolen property if you give them an AirTag location.
That's only a problem if the stolen property is in an apartment and not a house or driveway. And even in the apartment case it could probably be used in combination with other evidence (if available) to obtain a warrant, though you're correct that in practice police don't often have the bandwidth to investigate property crimes to that degree.
The Airtag is mostly off and when back on will alert the person.
I try to remember where I put my cat but for some reason he's never in the place I remember.
Or kidnapped children
> These devices should be outright illegal
why should protecting my belongings from thieves be illegal?
> You shouldn't go get back your belongings from a thief anyways.
you can also send the police to the thieves if you know where they are
seriously, there are like 10 stalkers worldwide but 2 billion thieves. most likely any stalking story was made up by thieves because they hate if people get their stuff back...
> seriously, there are like 10 stalkers worldwide
In the UK 1 in 7 has been stalked. Usually the victims are women or young people. The second link says that in the western world 2-15% of the population have been stalked.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeand...
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10515444/
>why should protecting my belongings from thieves be illegal?
Making tracking devices illegal does not make it illegal to protect your belongings from thieves.
>there are like 10 stalkers worldwide
Given how many women I know who had issues with stalkers, all ten must live near me.
> why should protecting my belongings from thieves be illegal?
A concealed tracker doesn’t protect you at all. It only aids in recovery.
> you can also send the police to the thieves if you know where they are
No, you can’t. The police do not recover stolen property based on an AirTag ping. They won’t lift a finger.