# Your opinion of trackable wallets? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2022, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580 "2022-12-15T12:27:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/21 "2022-12-16T22:02:38Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Install AirGuard And it does work. The only time I’ve gotten a “you’re being tracked” notice it was real, but innocent. A friend was following me in his car, and he had an airtag in his kid’s jacket which AirGuard detected. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/22 "2022-12-16T22:07:43Z")
That’s actually pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/23 "2022-12-17T10:14:22Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > An iphone will automatically alert you if you’re around an airtag that’s moving with you & isn’t yours (ie. someone throws one in your bag trying to track you). Only if the Airtag is separated from its owner, i.e. it won’t beep if you’re sitting next to someone who has their air tag with them. Also, it’s not just iPhones. All Apple products w/bluetooth make up the network. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/24 "2022-12-17T10:32:20Z")
When I was a teenager I lost my wallet or it was stolen. This was in the 1960s so no credit/debit cards, but a few notes and my driving licence. I never replaced it and ever since I have distributed such things around different pockets. At one time I would put a £5 note in my sock when going out for the evening so that I would always have the taxi-fare home. These days it’s that cards that get spread around. Always at least two CCs (from different providers), licence (for ID if needed) and often no cash at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/25 "2022-12-17T23:41:45Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > No, I’m able to login through Google (?!) so I just learned that the tracker in my wallet needs to be recharged via sunlight, so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if it takes a charge. So, what about the case where the reason why you lost the wallet is because it fell somewhere dark? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/26 "2023-10-23T20:59:39Z")
This thread is a bit old-ish, but I’m bumping it up to point out that Apple has opened up its “Find Me” network (essentially, the network of online Apple devices that will pick up a Bluetooth signal from a tracking device and report its location to a server) to third-party manufacturers. So it is, in fact, possible to get a non-Apple tracker such as a Chipolo and use it on Find Me. See [announcement](https://www.apple.com/uk/newsroom/2021/04/apples-find-my-network-now-offers-new-third-party-finding-experiences/) from Apple itself here. (I don’t know why Apple did so - it doesn’t seem to be an obviously beneficial move for them, commercially speaking. Perhaps they were afraid of antitrust law problems if they keep the Find Me network a closed ecosystem.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/27 "2023-10-23T21:05:58Z")
That’s good to see. The cynic in me says that it’s a means to take some of the heat off them, given reports of people using trackers for stalking and other unsavory behaviors. It allows them to claim that they can’t be held responsible for those other nasty trackers on an open network. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/28 "2023-10-23T21:09:02Z")
I would not say they “opened it up” so much as it was reverse-engineered, see here: > **[GitHub - seemoo-lab/openhaystack: Build your own 'AirTags' 🏷 today! Framework...](https://github.com/seemoo-lab/openhaystack#history)** > > Build your own 'AirTags' 🏷 today! Framework for tracking personal Bluetooth devices via Apple's massive Find My network. - GitHub - seemoo-lab/openhaystack: Build your own 'AirTags&... You need an Apple ID to use the network, however, and a normal Apple ID is limited to 16 devices. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/29 "2023-10-23T23:49:27Z")
I bought a bunch of Apple AirTags recently and attached one to my housekeys, one to my computer bag and one to each of my suitcases. And then I wanted to add one to my bi-fold wallet, but an AirTag just made a fat bulge in it. Ideally, there would be something as trackable as an AirTag but flatter. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/30 "2023-10-24T00:03:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Ideally, there would be something as trackable as an AirTag but flatter. Tile™️ trackers come in a thin credit card shape. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580/31 "2023-10-24T00:11:47Z")
And the Ekster wallet tracker card from the OP. Which might be more practical now with an open network, at least for iPhone owners. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-trackable-wallets/976580.md?page=1)