[HN Gopher] Lufthansa has not banned AirTags
___________________________________________________________________
Lufthansa has not banned AirTags
Author : bookofjoe
Score : 128 points
Date : 2022-10-08 18:33 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (liveandletsfly.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (liveandletsfly.com)
| dang wrote:
| Related:
|
| _Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33127459 - Oct 2022 (576
| comments)
| ezfe wrote:
| Really simple question is whether car keys are banned under the
| same rules. They are powered by the same types of batteries.
| tsimionescu wrote:
| Of course they are also banned, if they also use lithium
| batteries, though who flies with car keys? Especially in their
| checked in luggage?
| ghaff wrote:
| Lots of people travel with car keys if they drive to the
| airport. But it would be pretty dumb to put them in checked
| luggage.
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| ezfe wrote:
| Yes, but my point is that if they agree car keys are banned
| then AirTags are banned.
|
| If they say car keys are fine then they have no standing for
| banning AirTags.
|
| And yes, I agree that checking one's car keys is silly.
| simondotau wrote:
| I think it's a stupid decision by Lufthansa, but to be
| fair, these keys will only transmit when prompted by a
| radio signal from a specific car, whereas an AirTag will
| transmit when prompted by any iPhone. There are,
| surprisingly, more iPhones inside the typical airplane than
| cars.
| MichaelCollins wrote:
| I _always_ fly with my car keys (almost always in my carry-on
| bag) even when I take the train to the airport. Simply
| because my car keys are on the same keychain as my house
| keys, and I never leave home for anything without those..
| tsimionescu wrote:
| Oops, I am so used to taking a taxi (I don't drive) to the
| airport that I completely forgot many people actually drive
| there... Quite an idiot moment.
| MichaelCollins wrote:
| I never drive to the airport (parking is expensive and
| the train is cheap), but my car keys stay on my keychain
| and my keychain travels with me.
| [deleted]
| ghaff wrote:
| I have a combo lock at home. So I leave my keys at home
| unless I'm driving to the airport.
| LeoPanthera wrote:
| > who flies with car keys?
|
| Literally everyone who parked at the airport?
| cortesoft wrote:
| Why do you think airports have parking lots? Tons of people
| drive to the airport before flying
| kube-system wrote:
| Car keys usually remained powered off until a button is
| pressed.
| LeoPanthera wrote:
| Do they though? Lots of cars unlock when you get near to them
| with the key, which I imagine is technology effectively
| identical to an AirTag.
| orangepurple wrote:
| That is patently false. Keyless car fobs are constantly
| transmitting and it is possible to shut them down for long
| term storage with a key combination that almost nobody ever
| uses or even knows about.
| kube-system wrote:
| Ah, yeah I was thinking keyless entry not hands-free entry.
| abiloe wrote:
| If you're going to use language like "patently false" it
| helps to be correct. Keyless car fobs are not constantly
| transmitting. If they were, the battery would die quite
| quick. The key combinations to disable them help to prevent
| _relay_ attacks, not because they just constantly transmit.
| [deleted]
| kwhitefoot wrote:
| They don't transmit continuously. The little CR2032 cell in
| my Tesla key would be dead in a day or two but in fact it
| lasts about at least six months, probably more like a year.
| I presume that they listen for a ping from the car and only
| then transmit. Unless you press a button of course. I've
| had the car almost five years and I think I have only
| replaced the battery four times.
| GekkePrutser wrote:
| An AirTag transmits constantly yet it manages to last 6
| months too. They do not wait for phones to ping them,
| they just beacon all the time.
|
| Not saying this is what Tesla do. For privacy reasons it
| would be way better to not transit until it sees the car.
| But battery life isn't proof of this.
| kwhitefoot wrote:
| Not mine, or any others that have hands free unlocking. I
| presume that they are in a deep sleep but not unpowered and
| wake up when the car pings them.
| numbers wrote:
| And some watches use these batteries too.
| [deleted]
| brewdad wrote:
| Airlines do recommend keeping your car keys in your carry-on.
| Presumably this is so that you aren't stranded if your baggage
| gets lost rather than a ban on its battery.
| xd wrote:
| OT, kinda. My eldest kid is in the final year of UK junior school
| so finally cut lose to walk to and from school as is culturally
| acceptable here.. I gave her a phone so she could let us
| (mum/dad) know she was on her way home from school, deciding to
| go home to a friends etc.. the school caught wind and apparently
| it was against school policy so she was disciplined (along with a
| number of her peers) - the extent of which was limited when I and
| her mother (and her peers parents) told them we had given them
| the option irregardless of the school policy.
|
| The school response was to put an air tag on her!... I gave her a
| phone because they can't take change (money) to school which
| could be used for a payphone; but they don't exist any more,
| barely anyway.. fuck air tags, I don't care about property I care
| about people and air tags are as abusive bit of tech as it gets,
| how is a kid supposed to grow up knowing they are being tracked
| 24/7.. my example is nothing compared to what happens to people
| with abusive partners.. this kinda tech can not be normalised.
| dqpb wrote:
| > irregardless
|
| Sorry to nitpick, but you can just say regardless.
| xd wrote:
| Thanks, really! I appreciate it.. makes for a far better rant
| when the spelling/grammar is on point.
| fhsm wrote:
| As you've expressed interest... it seems to me that the
| nonsense word irregardless (which has become so prevalent
| as to have a understandable folk sense) arose as a
| portmanteau of irrespective and regardless. Both are useful
| words to know.
|
| Perhaps the extent to which one cares about the nonsensical
| composition of the word irregardless speaks to the same
| latent disposition that drive preferences among type
| systems.
|
| Whether "it works but is wrong" is nonsensical is
| debatable. My grandfather had a llama who duck typed his
| sexual partners. He was not, in a Darwinian sense, a
| successful animal but was beloved for his easy going
| disposition.
|
| Anyway, word are fun.
| jmull wrote:
| If you really like nitpicks: you can also just say
| irregardless.
|
| https://www.npr.org/2020/07/07/887649010/regardless-of-
| what-...
| CoastalCoder wrote:
| Meh, you can say whatever the hell you want.
|
| If English actually had language police, I'd press charges
| against everyone who enters a conversation with "I mean,
| ..." or "So, ...". [0]
|
| But that's only in my little fantasy world :) In the real
| world, there's no agreed-upon arbiter of "acceptable"
| English.
|
| [0] And the "rule" about omitting final punctuation, in
| sentences that end with a quote, is stupid and I won't
| write that way. Now get off my lawn!!!
| jffry wrote:
| > If English actually had language police, I'd press
| charges against everyone who enters a conversation with
| "I mean, ..." or "So, ..."
|
| What about starting a conversation with "Meh" ?
| CoastalCoder wrote:
| > What about starting a conversation with "Meh" ?
|
| Oh dear.
| dzhiurgis wrote:
| Sorry, what? Phones are tracked too. Maybe your solution is a
| watch, but still kinda expensive.
|
| Lost my 2yo a couple of times and each time thinking to
| resurrect an airtag that currently tracks junk drawer. Feel
| wrong and I don't think it would work on someone who changes
| clothes 5 times a day.
| xd wrote:
| The fact you lost your child is the basis of your argument
| against me, beggars belief.. a phone is not by default a
| device to track a kid an air tag is.. my kid is 10 and yours
| is 2... waaaay different situation.
|
| Edit: I lost my kid plenty of times as well.. they love to
| run off don't they.
| dzhiurgis wrote:
| xd wrote:
| Yeah they have I don't disagree .. kids growing up need
| trust was the point I failed to make.. they need to be
| able to do things without the fear of being tracked (the
| adult over the shoulder).. imagine for a second your
| parents putting an air tag on you as a kid.. depresses me
| at least.
|
| Edit: I'm sorry, you've called me "sus" because of what
| exactly? I never said I couldn't reason with my kids
| school.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/locate-family-
| membe...
|
| The Find My functionality to locate friends or family was
| a thing on phones years before AirTags came out. Google
| even had a product called Latitude all the way back in
| 2010 if I recall correctly.
| xd wrote:
| Did you even read my comment.. or did you see Apple
| product under attack and went for me.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| I was responding to
|
| > a phone is not by default a device to track a kid an
| air tag is
|
| I would be surprised if parents were not using the Find
| My functionality to track kids with phones before AirTags
| came out. Nowadays, even younger kids get Apple Watches
| for tracking purposes.
| judge2020 wrote:
| Airtags are explicitly not meant to track people. Apple goes
| out of their way to ensure them and their accessory partners do
| not advertise them being on a person of any age or relation to
| the airtag owner.
|
| But that's the thing with technology, isn't it? New tech comes
| out, companies do the right thing, but the freedom of the
| technology itself enables bad actors to abuse or repurpose the
| technology. With advancements in robotic technology, Boston
| Dynamics' policy to blacklist anyone who puts a gun on their
| dog does nothing when chinese companies are already selling it
| as a feature.
|
| You have to note that AirTags are not new. Tile has been around
| for a while and, if you live in a city, there was a high
| likelihood someone also has a tile and would be a beacon for
| your tile's GPS, and Tile makes no attempt at preventing human
| tracking. This isn't a tech being normalized, it already is
| normalized and has been for a decade. Just as you can be a
| proponent of advancements in robotics technology while being
| against their use in war, you can be against anyone
| recommending 24/7 tracking of humans.
| [deleted]
| ummonk wrote:
| Sounds like they're just claiming that enabled AirTags were
| banned all along, not denying that they're currently banned.
| bamboozled wrote:
| How to solve this problem? Stop losing peoples bags, then we
| won't feel the need to use AirTags.
|
| I never even thought of using an AirTags until I read the
| article, it's a good idea though.
| simondotau wrote:
| I recently used one with mobile self storage. I could see where
| they parked the trailer, and I could see when it was on the
| road being returned to me, which turned out to be very
| convenient. Didn't have to guess when it _wasn't_ going to
| arrive.
| Youden wrote:
| My reading is that AirTags are permitted by IATA regulations.
|
| [0] indicates that a small Lithium-metal battery, as is installed
| in an AirTag, can be transported as cargo on a passenger
| aircraft.
|
| [1] indicates that low-powered communications like Bluetooth are
| permitted from active devices transported as cargo (page 9, item
| 3).
|
| Am I missing something?
|
| [0]:
| https://www.iata.org/contentassets/05e6d8742b0047259bf3a700b...
|
| [1]:
| https://www.iata.org/contentassets/05e6d8742b0047259bf3a700b...
| renewiltord wrote:
| Was this all based on a incorrect legalistic reading of some
| rules or did they actually say anything in the first place?
| tethys wrote:
| All based on a clickbait article, as outlined here:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33128486
| breck wrote:
| The banning of AirTags was one of the stories that was top 5 on
| HN and was so clearly B.S., and of course loaded with copyright
| symbols and ads. That was the inspiration for this:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33128207 @dang
| yosito wrote:
| Why would an AirTag, or any personal baggage tracker, pose a
| threat to an airline and make them want to ban it?
|
| The benefits to consumers of using these devices are obvious. But
| it also seems that enabling customers to know where their lost
| luggage is would benefit the airlines as well.
|
| Can anyone thing of a reason (legitimate or not) that airlines
| would be motivated to prevent this?
| txcwpalpha wrote:
| Various airline regulatory bodies have rules that prohibit both
| devices that transmit wireless signals being carried in the
| cargo hold, as well as devices that have batteries being
| carried in the cargo hold. AirTags, while probably not the
| intended targets of such rules, technically fit both of these
| categories.
|
| The airline is effectively just saying "we follow the rules we
| are supposed to follow". In practice, I doubt they care at all,
| and you're not going to see anyone trying to sniff out AirTags
| to prevent them from being in luggage... but you're also not
| going to see the official spokesperson of an airline make an
| announcement saying "yea go ahead and just ignore the rules,
| it's fine".
| tsimionescu wrote:
| Even worse, the response would have been "we ignore these
| rules that govern our right to fly our planes all the time,
| don't worry!".
| ghaff wrote:
| The bottom line is that a lot of literal rules related to
| electronic devices are arguably broken tens of thousands of
| times a day. At the same time, airlines also have a generally
| consistent approach to the things they actually decide to
| care about which they have almost certainly discussed with
| regulators.
| bitL wrote:
| Lufthansa had massive problems with lost luggage lately and
| people started adding airtags to their bags that led to arrests
| of some folks, so I guess they want to "protect their
| reputation".
| dzhiurgis wrote:
| Ok so if your suitcase is indeed lost - don't say u had
| airtag in there. Say you had 200k worth of camera equipment
| instead...
| bookofjoe wrote:
| >arrests
|
| source(s)?
| natch wrote:
| In the average case it changes the balance of power in favor of
| the customer when there is delayed or missing luggage.
| deanc wrote:
| Yes, and the article touches on this. Accountability. Airlines
| lose bags all the time and will no longer be able to provide
| you with the endless list of excuses.
| capableweb wrote:
| Among the 600 comments in the previous mention of this (non)
| story, there was quite a few mentions of possible reasons
| (legitimate and not):
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33127459
| usr1106 wrote:
| No change in policy is what they say.
|
| But when interpreting existing rules very strictly they have
| always been forbidden (electronic device not powered off). In
| practice nobody has enforced it and obviously they don't plan to
| enforce it.
| Jack5500 wrote:
| Except they have.
|
| A Lufthansa spokesperson has clarified the new rules for the
| German news site watson:
| https://www.watson.de/leben/urlaub%20&%20freizeit/879935671-...
|
| It rougly translate to: The device itself is not banned, but has
| to be shut off during flight. In practice this would mean that
| you would have to remove the battery from the airtag, since there
| is no powerswitch.
|
| But I will admit that this seems odd and I think it won't be the
| last time we've heard about it.
| m-p-3 wrote:
| Or grant the owner the ability to temporarily stop an AirTag
| from broadcasting its signal for a specified amount of time.
|
| Do it right before your luggage is checked in up until the
| estimated time of arrival.
| tsimionescu wrote:
| As far as I understand there is nothing new. Lithium batteries
| have always been allowed in checked luggage only if they are
| inside a completely powered off and reasonably protected
| device, to avoid the risk of fires. This risk doesn't really
| apply to such small batteries, but the rules are there
| regardless of the size of the battery.
| Sporktacular wrote:
| Which is why this isn't about the battery fires. It's about
| the RF of hundreds of devices.
| gambiting wrote:
| So why is it fine for literally every single passanger to
| have bluetooth headphones on during the duration of the
| flight, but somehow trackers are bad?
| Sporktacular wrote:
| 1) It's not. They ask people to switch off all
| transmitters during flights (and later to during takeoff
| and landing) because of RF emissions. 2) Because you
| can't turn trackers off, especially when they're in the
| hold.
|
| Read the initial article that started all this, it even
| says that reason is because of transmissions.
| reaperducer wrote:
| _It 's not. They ask people to switch off all
| transmitters during flights (and later to during takeoff
| and landing) because of RF emissions._
|
| I think that's a little outdated.
|
| I flew a few times a few months ago, and the passengers
| were repeatedly encouraged to hook up to the plane's wifi
| as soon as we boarded. No announcements were made about
| turning devices off. Not even during take-off or landing.
| I'm one of those people who pays attention to the
| announcements and reads the safety cards every time, so I
| was surprised.
|
| I think the airlines think it's safer to have excitable
| people turned into gadget zombies during the flight to
| make the time pass faster and keep them from getting
| rowdy. The same function that the in-flight movie, drink,
| and meal used to serve before those were all value
| engineered away.
| mbreese wrote:
| _> passengers were repeatedly encouraged to hook up to
| the plane 's wifi as soon as we boarded _
|
| I think this is to make sure that you have it setup early
| so any tech support can be handled early and to make sure
| you can download the airline app to your phone if needed.
| The aircrew can enable/disable the wifi at will. Next
| time look to see if it is working at takeoff. I'm
| honestly not sure if it will be or not, but it used to be
| a switch in the cabin.
| reaperducer wrote:
| _Next time look to see if it is working at takeoff._
|
| Considering the number of people glued to their screens
| during takeoff, if it suddenly stopped working, I think
| the cabin-wide moaning and groaning would have been
| obvious.
| zwily wrote:
| They don't ask you to turn off all radios during
| takeoff/landing anymore. Just cellular.
| OJFord wrote:
| And some large percentage doesn't bother and it's
| absolutely fine.
| spoonalious wrote:
| Except they don't because most have onboard wifi now. And
| most allow Bluetooth headphones, including Lufthansa:
|
| Lufthansa: Bluetooth headphones are allowed during every
| part of the flight.
| gbin wrote:
| So clearly this is again an airline using a rule as a
| "proxy" for something else they want.
|
| Like no chewing tobacco... Yeah it is gross but it is
| probably not a safety issue.
| mutt2016 wrote:
| Flying is among the most dreadful activities I do. The
| whole thing is unsettling from the moment I pull up to
| the airport.
|
| This is one of many absolutely ridiculous things the
| airline industry has enforced.
|
| But.. I must fly places, so I just suffer like the rest.
| Sporktacular wrote:
| 1) The wifi system is EMC certified and tested with the
| flight instrumentation. Dozens of different consumer
| devices are not.
|
| 2) Lufthansa "allows it during the entire flight without
| restriction - even during take-off and landing unless the
| crew instruct
| otherwise"(https://bluetoothtechworld.com/can-i-use-
| bluetooth-headphone...). In other words, unless you're
| told to turn it off in the event of some problem, which
| is something you can't do when it's in the luggage hold
| of the aircraft.
|
| Again, the articles specifies this is about EMC.
| 8note wrote:
| Is that certification actually important?
|
| It seems to me like a denylist would be more useful than
| an Allowlist at this point.
|
| Almost no consumer electronics are dangerous to a plane
| Izikiel43 wrote:
| Is the problem with batteries or lithium batteries?
|
| AirTags have non lithium batteries
| fortran77 wrote:
| Stop spreading misinformation:
|
| >[T]he CR2032 battery is a Lithium-manganese dioxide
| battery (LiMn02). It is composed of a Mn02 cathode and a
| lithium anode. The device is specified for a 225 milliamp
| hours (mAh) and typically operates over a temperature range
| of -20 oC to +70 oC.
|
| You will find some alkaline versions available from some
| vendors, but it's not the norm.
|
| Now there may be a chance that Lufthansa didn't mean to
| include all types of lithium cells or batteries, but the
| vague wording doesn't seem to suggest that.
| Youden wrote:
| Lithium metal (e.g. coin cells) or Lithium-ion (e.g.
| smartphones).
|
| Both - when installed in a device - can be transported in
| checked luggage though: https://www.iata.org/contentassets/
| 05e6d8742b0047259bf3a700b...
|
| IATA actually has a document specifically addressing
| tracking devices: https://www.iata.org/contentassets/05e6d8
| 742b0047259bf3a700b...
|
| My reading of that document indicates that an AirTag should
| be fine, as low-powered wireless communication is allowed
| (page 9, item 3).
| pacificmint wrote:
| AirTags use CR2032 batteries which are, in fact, lithium
| batteries.
|
| They are lithium primary cells though, not lithium ion
| cells, which are usually what is banned.
| robbiet480 wrote:
| That article came out 5 days before the tweet from Ethan
| Klapper (Senior Aviation Reporter at The Points Guy) [1]
| referenced in the source article. Lufthansa's latest statement
| is they are not banned [2].
|
| [1]:
| https://twitter.com/ethanklapper/status/1578453321546801158
| [2]:
| https://twitter.com/ethanklapper/status/1578571226934611968
| judge2020 wrote:
| And? That says nothing about whether or not the battery must
| be removed from the device, which is important due to how
| much of a hassle that would be.
| ohbtvz wrote:
| I don't get your comment. You say they banned them, then
| immediately explain that they're not banned, you just have to
| turn them off - just like every single electronic device in
| checked in luggage. Can you elaborate on this contradiction?
| monksy wrote:
| It's only an odd statement because their employees created this
| shit storm and the organization is trying save face with the
| employees and correct the statement.
|
| Don't expect for the service side of LH to turn their back on
| rejecting baggage because it has an airtag.
| rhacker wrote:
| So they banned your cell phone too? Last I recall you can take
| those on a plane powered off too.
| bobviolier wrote:
| It's about checked-in luggage, not what you take with you in
| the cabin.
| mfkp wrote:
| Lithium batteries with you in the cabin have different rules
| than lithium batteries inside checked luggage.
|
| Also cell phones don't need to be powered off while inside
| the cabin.
| Manuel_D wrote:
| Would it be okay to put it in a metal box forming a faraday
| cage? I could seriously see a demand for such a product if they
| follow through on this ban.
| fzzzy wrote:
| What would be the point of that? It wouldn't work any more.
| brewdad wrote:
| What would be the point of putting an AirTag in your luggage
| if you prevent it from communicating with the outside world?
| Toss the Tag in your carry-on if you want it at your
| destination.
| dheera wrote:
| And this is why Airtags shouldn't have speakers.
| JadeNB wrote:
| How are speakers related to the ban, which tsimionescu
| suggests (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33135627) is
| just related to the Li battery problem?
| danielfoster wrote:
| I was surprised the onemileatatime article got so many upvotes.
| This site is well-known for posting clickbait and generally not
| well-received in the frequent flyer community.
| FeistySkink wrote:
| As an aside, are there ANY decent airlines left in EU? Just
| having booked tickets thought 3 separate airlines, I had to go
| throught multiple circles of hell: captcha (LOT), purposefully
| confusing flow, no luggage by default and next tier being x3-x5
| the price (WizzAir, but others are similarly bad), hidden fees
| appearing during final steps (Norwegian), and everything RyanAir.
| I'm not even flying with checked luggage for the past 15 years
| because of the multiple counts of every single airline losing and
| damaging my luggage. KLM, Lufthansa, SAS - you name it. And many
| times you don't even get to chose an airline: there is just one
| option.
| suction wrote:
| odysseus wrote:
| Air Europa out of Spain isn't that bad and fairly inexpensive.
| I flew on it 4 times this past year and the booking process
| works OK.
| monksy wrote:
| SAS is ok. Not great, but ok. TK is mostly pretty good. TAP is
| ok, but their OPs at Lisbon sucks.
| jen20 wrote:
| Lufthansa is one of the better ones. Typically I've found it
| better to book tickets via United though.
| monksy wrote:
| LH is pretty much the worst of the lot. Their employees will
| avoid helping you at all cost even when it makes their lives
| easier. If nothing wrong happens, they're ok. If any thing
| happens it's your fault. It's been like that for more than 10
| years.
| jakub_g wrote:
| I always find those kinds of comments hilarious. Did you
| actually fly _all_ of the airlines above, or you just hate
| LH because you normally fly Singapore Airlines?
| (perspective is important in those discussions).
|
| As a rule of thumb the oldschool companies always suck less
| than the cheap companies who try to squeeze every penny out
| of you in every way. (Or have barely enough fuel so they
| need to call emergency landing once a month, or don't have
| enough personnel so they live-cancel late evening flights
| etc)
|
| Now, I had my long list of issues with LH (it's the airline
| I fly the most because simply there's no other connection
| to places I want to go): missed connections, late bags on
| short connection, cancelled flights, late arrival etc. (By
| definition, airlines who do connections have higher risk of
| this than point-to-point cheap airlines.)
|
| But every time I managed to get a workable solution to the
| issue, rebooking at no extra cost, money back quickly after
| a big delay etc. And no one ever looks whether my bags are
| not 1mm too big.
|
| Meanwhile with a cheap airlines I had what you were
| explaining: once the website was not able to give me a
| boarding card. It was inactive or something. I arrive at
| the airport and show it to them live, they say sorry f.ck
| you, pay $$$ for printing boarding card at the airport. You
| should have called our hotline at $$$ per minute.
| nottorp wrote:
| Yeah, right.
| Sporktacular wrote:
| What am I missing? Comments all seem to be based on a false
| assumption. Nowhere in the article does it mention battery fires
| as the reason, or even the word battery/batteries.
|
| The original article
| (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33127459) doesn't mention
| batteries either, but it would make sense only to effectively put
| them in airplane mode. Hundreds of tags transmitting is bad for
| the same reason that phone's have to be shut off during flights.
| It even says "This is specifically because of the transmission
| function".
|
| Again, this isn't about battery fires - which is why they are't
| specifying quartz watches or pocket calculators too, but AirTags.
| txcwpalpha wrote:
| The original statement from Lufthansa mentioned that Airtags
| fall under the category of "Dangerous Goods". "Dangerous Goods"
| is a term used by the ICAO to refer to batteries or items with
| batteries (also refers to dangerous chemicals or radioactive
| material, but if you look at ICAO guidance about Dangerous
| Goods, the bulk of the guidance is about batteries).
|
| > Hundreds of tags transmitting is bad for the same reason that
| phone's have to be shut off during flights.
|
| Phones don't have to be shut off during flights. That hasn't
| been a thing for years.
|
| Any given commercial flight has hundreds of phones, wireless
| headphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc all transmitting radio
| signals at significantly higher power than Airtags.
| Sporktacular wrote:
| The article never mentions batteries but says specifically
| it's because of transmissions. If it was for the batteries
| that would be no reason to take special issue with trackers
| but ignore portable weighing scales for example.
|
| "Phones don't have to be shut off during flights. That hasn't
| been a thing for years." During take off and landing they do.
| Whether of not that's rational or justified is irrelevant.
| The reason given EMC, not battery safety.
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