While tracers are increasingly used for car thefts denounce experts, the New York Police Department decided on Sunday to fight fire with fire by distributing… AirTags to discourage vandals!
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These small devices launched two years ago by Apple to track his luggage or his children, for example, are often used for illegal spinning. To the point where Apple now makes it possible to detect the presence in the vicinity of an AirTag foreign to the user of a telephone.
But the New York police are faced with a particular phenomenon. Since last fall the Kia Boyz Challenge on TikTok has gone viral to the point of taking a dramatic turn.
The challenge is to steal Kia and Hyundai cars. It turns out that models with conventional keys – unlike those with a start button – are incredibly easy to steal.
Videos on TikTok show that all it takes is a screwdriver and a USB wire to start these vehicles. Many videos on Youtube also show young people fleeing behind the wheel of cars, some of them obviously not knowing how to drive.
Deadly phenomenon
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the challenge resulted in eight fatalities and 14 crashes.
In an attempt to curb the phenomenon, New York Mayor Eric Adams made a public outing on Sunday to announce the distribution of 500 AirTags in three areas of the Bronx, Castle Hill, Soundview, and Parkchester.
Police there noted a 548% increase in thefts from Hyundai and Kia.
“A simple AirTag hidden in a car is a great tracking device. It’s easy to monitor. All of a sudden you are alerted that your car is moving. It actually shows you in real time where the car is,” explained the mayor.
“The 21st century demands 21st century policing. The AirTags in your car will help us recover your vehicle if it is stolen. We’ll use our drones, StarChase technology, and good old-fashioned police work to safely recover your stolen car. Help us help you, get an AirTag,” added Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey.
The police have clarified that they will not track down the given AirTags, it will be up to the owner of the vehicle to report the theft.
An unconvinced expert
“The AirTag approach is flawed,” believes Ryk Edelstein of 5-L Technology, a Montreal-based company specializing in counter-surveillance.
“The airtag works on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology and identifies its position by extracting geolocation data from nearby iPhone devices. The device does not have a location sensor, nor any means of communication other than BLE.
For the AirTag to work, it must be within 30m of an iPhone. The concrete of a basement will also cut its signal, says the expert.
While he acknowledges that the measure could indeed “deter non-professionals from attempting the challenge”, something far more effective could be achieved by purchasing “a proper GPS with live tracking for $15 a month as one can find some on onestepGPS.com.”
As for the $10 or $15 devices on Amazon that lead to a Chinese geolocation website, “they are relatively inaccurate when working and difficult to set up,” he concludes.
In the United States, Hyundai and Kia have announced that more than eight million vehicles from the years 2011 to 2022 are eligible for an update that will prevent the vehicle from starting without the key. But 17 states are urging the federal government to issue a recall.
The situation here
Should owners of Kia and Hyundai vehicles in Quebec be worried about this sad phenomenon?
“We confirm that all Hyundai and Genesis vehicles on the Canadian market since 2007 are equipped with electronic immobilizers. In addition, alarms are standard on all Hyundai and Genesis vehicles sold in Canada,” explains Jennifer McCarthy, Director of Public Relations for Hyundai Canada.
“In the United States, vehicles with key ignition are not necessarily equipped with an anti-theft immobilizer. Transport Canada requires that all vehicles sold on the Canadian market since September 1, 2007 be equipped with an electronic anti-theft ignition interlock device. Kia vehicles sold in Canada are therefore not affected by this theft problem,” argues Madison Don of Kia’s public relations for Quebec.
The device makes it impossible, for example, to start the vehicle using the wires leading to the key cylinder.
“The immobilizer in our vehicles is an electronic security device that prevents the engine from starting without the correct key (conventional key fitted with a transponder or smart key). So without the right key, there’s no starting,” says Frédéric Mercier of Hyundai in Quebec.