Tracking the person who stole your bike IS stalking, just a socially acceptable form. That's the point.
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bob1029
> We have removed the product and will use our patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future.
I am not sure I follow the unique technological aspects of this solution. The last time I needed to silence a beeping contraption, I broke out the cordless drill and ran it through the offending PCB element. Air tags seem affordable enough to practice this operation a few times. Not sure what is actually protected here.
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Johnny555
We have removed the product and will use our patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future.
Doesn't the patent just document how it works so individuals can create and release 3D models of the device so anyone can create their own?
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orliesaurus
What's the best thing to track bike thieves these days? I own 6 bikes (yes one for each type of road I ride ..) and I have never found a good solution?
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amelius
> and will use our patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future
What prevents anyone from selling a device but distributing the software through a separate channel?
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serf
I don't want weaponization of patents regardless of how much "Think of the Children!" and "We must defend the public!" is injected.
white knight with a sword made of patent lawsuits doesn't exist in my world.
It was good of them to decide to stay away from producing the product they realized they didn't want to exist, they should have stopped there instead of villainizing themselves by self-deputizing.
gorgoiler
The article linked to from The Verge is a good one, with quotes from EFF and Elevation Labs themselves.
The outrage feels misplaced. The way to stop evil people abusing your global track-anything network is to not have a global track-anything network. Apple PR must be on yellow alert right now feeling glad they’ve dodged a bullet.
Imagine if Meta did this instead. They could network their smart glasses and leverage their ubiquity to help people find lost pets — but strictly only lost pets, not people — but then Something Labs might ship a tool to make a person's face look pet-like enough to turn Find My Pet into Find My Ex.
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Perenti
The "read more" link points to the same page. There is no more to read apparently. Why does this seem suspicious?
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kqp
So, reading between the lines, somebody pressured them hard but they’re providing instructions to DIY instead?
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steve_taylor
Their AirTag Magnetic Mount is arguably just as "dangerous". It can be mounted to the underside of a car in one second and no one inside the car will hear it.
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lifeisloving
Do Iphone users get notifications everytime an airtag is nearby them??
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compsciphd
I've said before, apple should just create a law enforcement mode that one can turn their air tags into. When in law enforcement mode, the tag will not report to your page, but law enforcement can go through legal channels to get the devices location.
To put a device into (or out of) law enforcement mode, can only be done over bluetooth (i.e. in proximity to device)./
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atemerev
I wonder why no one writes that all UWB devices - airtags, phones, headphones - form the opportunistic P2P network perfect for mass surveillance. Best case scenario, all phones and airtags can be localized on demand by FBI - yes, the current one. Worst case scenario, by FSB.
kylec
Nice apology, though weird flex about their expensive bikes in there
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incanus77
I'm a happy customer of three of their products, but: tell me you don't have any women on your team with influence without telling me.
IncreasePosts
You can already stalk
..I mean find lost bikes... easily using the air tag network. Silencing the speaker is a weak way to defeat anti tracking measures, because anyones iphone will still alert them.
A better way requires a small programmable cpu with ble support - have a large number of virtual air tags which a device rotates, and also have a device which never sets the separated status byte.
dgellow
That’s a pretty good apology post. No corporate bullshit. Kudos
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Krasnol
I can't really understand how one could have been so naive to not see the obvious misuse of this thing in the first place. AirTags started 2021 and the backlash was spectacular. Did they forget about it?
...or didn't they care, like Apple, and just cashed in before the shitstorm?
jrflowers
> use our patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future
lmao “In lieu of direct sales we will be recouping the cost of our hammer-as-a-stalking-accessory patent through litigation”
cloudie78
Call me dumb I still don’t understand what exact problem these clowns were trying to solve
show comments
altmanaltman
> Elevation Lab stops selling its AirTag “silencer.”The tool, which Six Colors recently slammed as “appalling,” pierces the AirTag’s speaker, preventing it from emitting sound. While Elevation Lab says it designed the tool to prevent thieves from detecting the presence of an AirTag, it also disables an anti-stalking feature that audibly alerts people when an unknown tracker is following them.
> Elevation Lab says it has stopped selling the tool and will use its “patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future,” according to MacRumors.
Provide the full context when you apologize, not whitewash what you did. Go on a ride on your more expensive than car bike, maybe that will help you reasses your product ideation.
show comments
mmh0000
1. This is so dumb. You can be tracked any number of ways. The AigTag with or without sound is the dumbest way to track someone.
2. Physically disabling the AirTag speaker is soooo easy. It took under 3 minutes to do it on the AirTag I hid on my motorcycle.
3. "An Apology" is more like a weird advertisement (I guess it worked, I read the stupid thing. But, in fairness, I've now blocked their site in a custom ublock filter, so hopefully I never stumble on it again).
4. They have expensive bikes... Why? Who cares? That's not relevant to anything!? Why did they put that in there? Was this written by a 4th grader? Fuck me. I wish I had just read more AI slop instead.
show comments
augment_me
Vibe-coded clone in 3..2..1..
While I understand the reasoning this is just virtue signaling in a time where software is free.
Photo of the device on MacRumors (who intentionally didn’t publicize its release): https://macrumors.com/2026/10/13/elevation-lab-airtag-silenc...
Tracking the person who stole your bike IS stalking, just a socially acceptable form. That's the point.
> We have removed the product and will use our patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future.
I am not sure I follow the unique technological aspects of this solution. The last time I needed to silence a beeping contraption, I broke out the cordless drill and ran it through the offending PCB element. Air tags seem affordable enough to practice this operation a few times. Not sure what is actually protected here.
We have removed the product and will use our patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future.
Doesn't the patent just document how it works so individuals can create and release 3D models of the device so anyone can create their own?
What's the best thing to track bike thieves these days? I own 6 bikes (yes one for each type of road I ride ..) and I have never found a good solution?
> and will use our patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future
What prevents anyone from selling a device but distributing the software through a separate channel?
I don't want weaponization of patents regardless of how much "Think of the Children!" and "We must defend the public!" is injected.
white knight with a sword made of patent lawsuits doesn't exist in my world.
It was good of them to decide to stay away from producing the product they realized they didn't want to exist, they should have stopped there instead of villainizing themselves by self-deputizing.
The article linked to from The Verge is a good one, with quotes from EFF and Elevation Labs themselves.
https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/10/silencing-airtags-enables...
The outrage feels misplaced. The way to stop evil people abusing your global track-anything network is to not have a global track-anything network. Apple PR must be on yellow alert right now feeling glad they’ve dodged a bullet.
Imagine if Meta did this instead. They could network their smart glasses and leverage their ubiquity to help people find lost pets — but strictly only lost pets, not people — but then Something Labs might ship a tool to make a person's face look pet-like enough to turn Find My Pet into Find My Ex.
The "read more" link points to the same page. There is no more to read apparently. Why does this seem suspicious?
So, reading between the lines, somebody pressured them hard but they’re providing instructions to DIY instead?
Their AirTag Magnetic Mount is arguably just as "dangerous". It can be mounted to the underside of a car in one second and no one inside the car will hear it.
Do Iphone users get notifications everytime an airtag is nearby them??
I've said before, apple should just create a law enforcement mode that one can turn their air tags into. When in law enforcement mode, the tag will not report to your page, but law enforcement can go through legal channels to get the devices location.
To put a device into (or out of) law enforcement mode, can only be done over bluetooth (i.e. in proximity to device)./
I wonder why no one writes that all UWB devices - airtags, phones, headphones - form the opportunistic P2P network perfect for mass surveillance. Best case scenario, all phones and airtags can be localized on demand by FBI - yes, the current one. Worst case scenario, by FSB.
Nice apology, though weird flex about their expensive bikes in there
I'm a happy customer of three of their products, but: tell me you don't have any women on your team with influence without telling me.
You can already stalk ..I mean find lost bikes... easily using the air tag network. Silencing the speaker is a weak way to defeat anti tracking measures, because anyones iphone will still alert them.
A better way requires a small programmable cpu with ble support - have a large number of virtual air tags which a device rotates, and also have a device which never sets the separated status byte.
That’s a pretty good apology post. No corporate bullshit. Kudos
I can't really understand how one could have been so naive to not see the obvious misuse of this thing in the first place. AirTags started 2021 and the backlash was spectacular. Did they forget about it?
...or didn't they care, like Apple, and just cashed in before the shitstorm?
> use our patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future
lmao “In lieu of direct sales we will be recouping the cost of our hammer-as-a-stalking-accessory patent through litigation”
Call me dumb I still don’t understand what exact problem these clowns were trying to solve
> Elevation Lab stops selling its AirTag “silencer.”The tool, which Six Colors recently slammed as “appalling,” pierces the AirTag’s speaker, preventing it from emitting sound. While Elevation Lab says it designed the tool to prevent thieves from detecting the presence of an AirTag, it also disables an anti-stalking feature that audibly alerts people when an unknown tracker is following them. > Elevation Lab says it has stopped selling the tool and will use its “patent on it to prevent anyone else from making one in the future,” according to MacRumors.
https://www.theverge.com/tech/1010718/elevation-labs-stops-s...
Provide the full context when you apologize, not whitewash what you did. Go on a ride on your more expensive than car bike, maybe that will help you reasses your product ideation.
1. This is so dumb. You can be tracked any number of ways. The AigTag with or without sound is the dumbest way to track someone.
2. Physically disabling the AirTag speaker is soooo easy. It took under 3 minutes to do it on the AirTag I hid on my motorcycle.
3. "An Apology" is more like a weird advertisement (I guess it worked, I read the stupid thing. But, in fairness, I've now blocked their site in a custom ublock filter, so hopefully I never stumble on it again).
4. They have expensive bikes... Why? Who cares? That's not relevant to anything!? Why did they put that in there? Was this written by a 4th grader? Fuck me. I wish I had just read more AI slop instead.
Vibe-coded clone in 3..2..1..
While I understand the reasoning this is just virtue signaling in a time where software is free.