iPad Tracked Not Legally Considered Trespassing

[Maura]

ZDNet often has really interesting tech news stories that you won’t find anywhere else, and today they’ve come up trumps with this story about a court case in the ACT Magistrates Court in Australia, which involved an iPad owner in Canberra who used Find My iPad when his iPad was stolen, tracked it down to a home in North Canberra, to the garage, to be more specific, and then called the police, who searched the home and found the iPad as well as other allegedly stolen goods. An open-and-shut case, you might think, but in fact not so fast, as ZDNet reports that the defendant’s lawyer tried to say that the evidence obtained in the case was unlawful, because by using Find My iPad and activating the alarm when it was located, the iPad’s owner had “electronically trespassed†on the defendant’s property. As you might expect, the prosecution said that this was “absurdâ€, and Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker also seemed to think so, as she ruled that no act of trespass had been committed by the iPad owner.

Source: Court rules iPad tracking is not trespassing | ZDNet

Note that the iPad in the picture is a stunt iPad and not the one from the Australian tale!

 

[Kaykaykay]

It would be nice if you could go a step further and deliver an electric jolt to anyone handling a stolen iPad, lol.

 

[Maura]

It would be nice if you could go a step further and deliver an electric jolt to anyone handling a stolen iPad, lol.

Yes! Hehe!

 

[scifan57]

It would be nice if you could go a step further and deliver an electric jolt to anyone handling a stolen iPad, lol.

How about having the iPad take a photo of whoever was using it?

 

[Kaykaykay]

How about having the iPad take a photo of whoever was using it?

I like it. Preferably snapped while the thief is getting that electric jolt. Might make a good mug shot for jail.

 

[AQ_OC]

Better yet...have the iPad emit some strong EM waves into the head of the robber. If you get the level just right, he won't even know...until a few years down the road...

 

[Kaykaykay]

Better yet...have the iPad emit some strong EM waves into the head of the robber. If you get the level just right, he won't even know...until a few years down the road...

Should I put on my tinfoil hat if I'm nearby?

 

[skimonkey]

Oh my goodness, just came on to this thread... And y'all have some funny comments! Loved them all!!

 

[Kaykaykay]

Oh my goodness, just came on to this thread... And y'all have some funny comments! Loved them all!!

Now that you're here, I'm going to make you a tinfoil hat, too. Let me know if you have a preference on hat style. I'm picturing you in something jaunty, maybe with a tinfoil feather on it.

 

[KevinJS]

Can't add to the humor here, I'm afraid.

What I'd really like to see is a change to iOS, so that iDevices can be unlocked at an Apple Store when the owner forgets the passcode. This would help several members who have locked themselves out.

I would also like to see the Passcode lock go one step further, so that a Passcode-locked iDevice cannot be restored without the afore-mentioned trip to the Apple Store and presentation of proof of ownership. This would effectively make them useless to thieves.

Sent from my iPhone using iPF

 

[Kaykaykay]

Can't add to the humor here, I'm afraid.

What I'd really like to see is a change to iOS, so that iDevices can be unlocked at an Apple Store when the owner forgets the passcode. This would help several members who have locked themselves out.

I would also like to see the Passcode lock go one step further, so that a Passcode-locked iDevice cannot be restored without the afore-mentioned trip to the Apple Store and presentation of proof of ownership. This would effectively make them useless to thieves.

Sent from my iPhone using iPF

I might be up for this idea. I wonder how keen Apple would be to enforce it properly. There have been reports of thieves taking stolen iPads to Apple stores with some kind of cooked-up problem, getting them replaced for free and effectively walking away with a new iPad that is then free of thieving history. The legit owner is then left with no recourse.

From my experience with going into an Apple store with a smashed iPhone bought on another continent, Apple took me at face value, never asked where I got it or asked any kind of ownership question or for proof of ownership. I walked out with a free replacement phone within about 10-15 minutes. It would've been even quicker if I hadn't taken up the genius's offer to transfer my data from smashed phone to new phone. As a legit customer, I was pleased. If someone had stolen my phone and walked off with a replacement, I would've been steamed.

 

[KevinJS]

Yes. It's a tough nut to crack. Inconvenience for legitimate customers having to prove that the device belongs to them weighed against knowing that their property just became worthless to thieves. Me? I'd take the inconvenience, but I only live half an hour from an Apple Store. Others are not so lucky, and like you say, would Apple be ready to enforce it.

It would be a first in the electronics industry, I'm sure.

Sent from my iPhone using iPF

 

[Kaykaykay]

Yes. It's a tough nut to crack. Inconvenience for legitimate customers having to prove that the device belongs to them weighed against knowing that their property just became worthless to thieves. Me? I'd take the inconvenience, but I only live half an hour from an Apple Store. Others are not so lucky, and like you say, would Apple be ready to enforce it.

It would be a first in the electronics industry, I'm sure.

Sent from my iPhone using iPF

I'm with you. I'd take the inconvenience in trade, but I also live close to Apple stores.

Service varies worldwide, too. In the U.S. for instance, the customer often gets the benefit of the doubt, and courtesy to boot. In parts of Asia for example, I've seen much shoddier service -- when you might be treated with little or no courtesy even as a legit customer, just because customer service is generally weaker in the culture. In some places, you get interrogated even if you have a minor, valid complaint, lol. On the whole, I really appreciate customer service in the U.S. by comparison. (That being my most frequent comparison.)

 

[iJamesH]

How about having the iPad take a photo of whoever was using it?

Or better yet a video of the said suspect.

 

[Maura]

This thread is cracking me up!