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Comment by runjake | Hacker News Reader

For all the people commenting "How would they know?", AirTags are scannable by NFC readers and identify themselves as an AirTag.

You can test this yourself by downloading the NFC Tools app on your iPhone (or one for Android) and doing a read on the AirTag.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749

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NFC has a range of around 5cm and has nothing to do with how AirTags work for tracking purposes. Do you really think AirTags only update their location when someone with an iPhone comes over to intentionally scan it?

Even if you bury the AirTag in the middle of the luggage, it will still be trackable, but NFC will absolutely not come even close to reaching it.

They’re not going to have off the shelf equipment capable of locating an AirTag quickly enough to matter even if they can tell there are AirTags somewhere in the general vicinity of the luggage area. That’s just not how any of this works.

Whether the rule itself is ridiculous or not, as others have pointed out, the main benefit seems to be that they can tell customers to stop bothering them about luggage that they’ve lost.

I put an airtag on the inside pocket of my luggage, and am having no luck scanning it from the outside. It seems unlikely this will work. I can still find it with my iphone though.

Yeah but security scanners don't have NFC readers built into them, and even if they did, the range is too short to be useful the way scanners are built.

If you stick it in the middle, it’s out of range. Unless you have some super powered scanner perhaps

If it is not connectable you won't locate your luggage either

I did not expect anyone on HN suggesting sticking it deep into the luggage so it's out of range.

And you are confidently wrong since the NFC has very short range.

Out of NFC range. Not out of Bluetooth range.

Ah. I see.

They report in via Bluetooth, not NFC.

My phone won’t scan one from more than a few inches, but I can locate them with Find My iPhone 20+ feet off.

Also what is the point? Bluetooth is easily detectable too

They don't identify as AirTags over BT like they do over NFC.

https://lifehacker.com/try-using-a-bluetooth-scanner-app-to-...

NFC and Bluetooth are different technologies with different capabilities and ranges.

if its out of range, its not much use as an airtag. circular logic

NFC and Bluetooth have different ranges. AirTags use both for different purposes.

It still beacons. And sticking it in the middle will attenuate the beaconing by quite a bit (per my own testing), which defeats the purpose.

> "How would they know?"

They don't have to know.

All they want to do is respond to "You lost my bag" with "But you jeopardized the entire flight with your illegal transmitter".

You don't need to reveal your AirTag to report a lost bag.

And carrying an AirTag, even if it were against their rules, does not somehow absolve them of their duty to return the bag (and/or pay for the lost luggage).

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