Originally published at: Flight returns to terminal after someone on board AirDrops plane crash pictures to all aboard | Boing Boing
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i was clueless (well, still am), about what protocol/channel AirDrop™ is. If i’m pulling up the correct use, then it’s AppleOS specifically and close range (formally server-less) wireless transfer of files. And apparently it’s been used before to upset air travel:
In March 2022 a flight between Seattle and Orlando was forced to park on the runway at Orlando International Airport until police decided a hijack threat was “not credible” – a 10-year-old child onboard the plane AirDropped a threat to another passenger, who alerted the crew.
still wonder how close is “close range” [shrug]
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There’d be a lot of people in jail if that law existed in the US.
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AirDrop (like AirTag) is yet another insecure, easily abused, on-by-default “feature” from Apple. Makes me glad that I am not part of Apple’s ecosystem.
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The faux pas of all faux pas.
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Whoa, whoa - I was assuming this was the work of a bored kid, but either they went crazy arresting random people, or this was planned… though why anyone would organize for this is beyond me (unless what they wanted was to turn the plane around, for some reason).
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Per Wikipedia, “Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have to be turned on for both Mac and iOS devices.”, so I’d guess maximum Bluetooth range, the shorter of the two.
It may have initially been “Everyone”, but the current iOS default is “Contacts Only”.
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I’m suspicious that they arrested 9 people. Does it take 9 people to airdrop stuff on a plane? Its possible but i dunno, its weird.
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And Airdrop requires that you accept the file. Who in their right mind accepts any file from a random stranger on a plane?
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Maybe they just arrested everyone who did not put their precious into flight mode?
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Strangers on a Train, OTOH…I’m listening.
Srsly, though, what a weird thing.
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With 9 arrested my money is on some kind of student group. This is exactly the kind of stupid prank my friends and I would have tried in high school or college if we’d had Airdrop (although I’d LIKE to think we wouldn’t be stupid enough to choose plane crash photos that could be interpreted as a criminal threat…).
Let he among us who hath never shared a link to goatse cast the first stone!
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Also, I totally have a Spotify playlist of terrible music downloaded on my phone awaiting the day when some idiot teenager blasting music on the subway has his bluetooth speaker in discoverable mode.
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Inside a metal can, probably the whole plane.
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Why false? Were they genuine plane crash pics or photoshopped?
Accepting anything from randos seems like a horrible feature.
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Feel free to legitimately hate on the decision to make airdrop enabled (with confirmation to accept anything) by default. I’m glad they changed that some time ago, it was dumb.
However, you find me another company who has tried harder to ensure location tags are secure and safe for users, because it sure as fuck isn’t Tile or any of the umpteen knockoffs who didn’t even consider security or privacy before Apple showed up. It does no one any good to generalize just because you like the narrative, and as someone who has spent my entire life working in network security, I’m going to give kudos where they are due, and Apple called out the despicable, misogynistic practices of the asshats at Tile and everywhere else who outright ignored stalking victims and others until Apple made a point of considering their safety.
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Arsehole(s) of the day award goes to whoever sent plane crash photos…
Arsehole of the year goes to Apple for this incredibly ridiculous “feature”. WTF were they even thinking?
