I bought a jammer for this kind of things. I won’t shere any links, because laws vary, but i am taking all precautions not to harm anyone by my jammer. And i use it only if i need maximum privacy.
I’m… astounded to hear there are commercial jammers available for UWB trackers like AirTags
Edit: nvm, my grasp of AirTag tech is rusty. FindMy mesh network uses BLE for remote tracking, UWB is only used for precise tracking when the homing device is within range, ~30m or so
IDK if it is allowed to post here such specific links. I sent you DM
it’s allowed but limited for news users that’s it
Late to the conversation but I have been investigating Meshtastic.
While it has its use cases those are largely different than the use case for something like an AirTag. If your goal is to privately keep track of your luggage while on a trip I think you will be disappointed.
The LoRa radios can have reasonable range but not in a built up environment nor within a metal airline luggage container. Upon check in you are likely to lose signal from your tag when it disappears into the luggage handling system. It is exceedingly unlikely that, even in the passenger compartment directly over the container that holds your luggage, you will be able to detect it and be assured your luggage was loaded.
Flight rules where I am and I believe world wide do not allow rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries in checked luggage. All the prefabricated LoRa tags I am aware of violate that rule.
The legal frequency bands for LoRa differ around the world. If your flight is international then you are very likely to have your devices on an illegal frequency band on either your departure or your arrival. Even if you are not worried about the legality, it does mean that there will be no compatible mesh to assist propagation of your luggage tag’s location: You probably won’t detect your luggage tag’s location until you can see it in the pick up area.
Using the default setup means your tag will only give approximate location. You will need to setup a private channel to get accurate location. The by default the controls are interrelated: Setting the channel name sets a frequency step or bin. By setting the primary (0) channel to a custom one means you will not be on the local mesh. You will need to know what frequency step the local mesh typically uses and specifically set than. If you do that incorrectly then you will not have your tag’s location propagated by the mesh.
As far as privacy goes, the encryption on a private channel is not all that robust. I am not an encryption expert but Meshtastic lacks perfect forward security and is susceptible to replay attacks. I think what they do is good for their use case but would not rely on it for anything where I am worried about security and privacy.
Mention was made earlier that you can specify whether or not you are willing to have your data packets forwarded through the Internet via a MQTT gateway. Turns out that is simply a couple of flags in the header. There is no guarantee than a gateway device will honor those flags.
The Meshtastic/LoRa setup can be good for tracking an off leash pet around an open space where you have good line of sight or where there is a well placed repeater/router. And it is good for chatting and maintaining contact between individuals in a hiking or hunting group. And the default public channel setup it could be good in emergency situations where the normal communications infrastructure is down. But it is not well suited for the same application as an AirTag (or equivalent).
Thanks a lot for this detailed answer.
And also, shit. 
Lol, back to square one on this one!
Any other solution you would suggest for a privacy airtag replacement?
You can’t get a privacy air tag.
The problem is transmitting location information with a tiny radio and battery all the way back to you.
Tiny radio and battery means you’d need to cover whole city with receivers just for yourself. Which we already have in cell phones and Apple laptops.
Wanting private air tags quickly enters the solution area of large communication equipment. Like, are you ready to have daily balloons with radio repeaters? Remember that you’re competing in cost with just paying a “keeper of the purse” a full time salary.
Air tags sending a code that only Apple or Google servers can interpret is a lot cheaper, reliable, and simpler than even loras.
The privacy that Apple and Google deign to incorporate is the best you’ll get. And it’s not insignificant privacy, neither corporation wants to win the hot potato of a rich woman being brutally murdered by a stalker with an air tag.
Hmmmm, couldn’t it be done with bluetooth then? No internet connection, only bluetooth.
Not saying it exists, but theoretically.
AirTags are Bluetooth. They transmit via Bluetooth.
Yes, but I meant only Bluetooth, without going through Apple’s server.
I don’t understand why you couldn’t have device A communicate with device B without internet via Bluetooth.
It’s probably that I don’t understand the technology well.
For instance, I can plug-in my phone with a headphone via Bluetooth and no internet connection is required. Why can’t I have some sort of device that does the exact same thing, but it’s sole purpose is saying “I’m still connected.”
I don’t understand why this wouldn’t be feasible.
That’s just a small radio broadcasting a beep at a frequency. You can get decent range and probably built it yourself.
Air tags though transmit location data. The above setup would require two receivers to triangulate location.
Thanks! A product for that would be great. Not sure how to build it myself.
Wildlife biologists might use such a system to track a specific animal
Do you mind sharing with me as well please? I am trying to defend from tracking based particular on ble.
Also can someone share how is an android app BLE Radar able to show locations of some devices that it finds around? I tested it by taking a walk carrying my wireless headset(using it, not off). After the map in app had precise points of my route, that’s no surprise. But when I see this for some of surrounding devices, I don’t understand how is that possible? Are those devices logging their route and then freely transmit it to anyone listening?