Ever since Apple’s launch AirTags Last year we heard stories of them being used for an unintended purpose: stalking. It was a particular problem for womenand now it seems even more serious than people thought.
This is the result of research by motherboard (opens in new tab), which received reports from eight major police departments over a period of eight months. During that time, there were 150 reports mentioning AirTags, 50 of which were from women who had received notifications that a fraudulent AirTag was tracking them.
Half of these 50 women who suspected a man in their life could have been responsible for planting the AirTag – with the aim of stalking and harassing them. In one case, a woman called the police after a man escalated his harassment; The report said he placed an AirTag in her car and threatened to “make her life hell”.
Other cases included an angry ex who slashed a woman’s tires and left an AirTag in her car, and a woman who reported finding AirTags on her car multiple times. She claimed it was her ex who had a history of assault as he could show up in places at the same time as her.
Ex-partners mysteriously showing up are a recurring tale in the reports, as are fears and threats that the person placing the AirTag intended to cause physical harm. However, some reports have come from women in an active relationship with the man who was stalking them, some of whom became violent when confronted.
Of the 150 reports, only one concerned a man who suspected his ex-girlfriend was stalking him with an AirTag. Less than half of the reports mention AirTags being involved in some kind of robbery.
It must be emphasized that these reports come from only eight police jurisdictions out of thousands in the United States. It also doesn’t take into account any of the other countries where AirTags are for sale. In other words, the 50 stalking reports probably only scratch the surface.
What is Apple doing about it?
Apple has been criticized for AirTags and their ability to be used for criminal purposes – specifically stalking. Since the introduction of fobs in April 2021, iOS has had a feature that automatically recognizes unknown AirTags and it is received several updates there, but it is clear that this is not enough.
For starters, it ignores the fact that Android users exist and can be subject to AirTag stalking. Knowing that an AirTag is following you isn’t as helpful as being able to track it down, either. Apple started it tracker detection (opens in new tab) App for Android late last year. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t work automatically like it does on the iPhone; the user has to actively check for nearby AirTags, which doesn’t help much if you have no idea you’re being stalked.
Apple has also promised to introduce a precision tracking feature to help victims hunt down unknown trackers. This should also make it clearer if someone might be being tracked with an AirTag.
Unfortunately, This feature is not expected to be available until later this yearand Apple has only announced support for iPhone 11, iphone 12 and iPhone 13 devices – presumably because it relies on ultra-wideband technology not available in other devices.
Clearly more needs to be done to prevent this type of abuse. Soon Google might have plans Add an OS-level tracker detector to Android, which will be a helpful tool, but it’s not available to help people who are currently being tracked.
How can you avoid AirTag stalking?
AirTags work over Apple’s Find My network, which means any iPhone in range can receive AirTag signals and automatically forward them to Apple. Therefore, given the number of iPhones in use at any given time, finding the location of an AirTag is very easy.
This is great for locating lost keys, but also makes AirTags an effective and inexpensive weapon for stalkers. Even more so than if the perpetrator were using something like a tile that doesn’t have the same range as Apple’s network.
It’s worth knowing how to protect yourself and how to flag unknown AirTags that may be following you. We have a detailed guide that explains How to tell if an AirTag is tracking youbut here are the basics.
iPhone users: Anyone rocking an iPhone 6S or newer can tag unfamiliar AirTags, provided they have iOS 14.5 or a newer update. Go to find mine App, tap the To me icon at the bottom right and make sure Item Security Warnings activated.
Android users: There are two options for you. The first is Apple’s own tracker detection (opens in new tab) app, although this requires you to manually check for stray AirTags and requires Android 9.0 or later.
If you prefer something automatic, give it a try AirGuard (opens in new tab). This regularly scans for stray AirTags and works on older devices up to Android 5.0. It can also detect trackers from other companies like Tile.
Every body else: If you don’t have a smartphone or your phone is too old for a dedicated tracker detection app, you don’t have many options. But an AirTag will start beeping if it’s been away from its paired iPhone or iPad for more than 24 hours – so watch out for unexpected chirps. This isn’t a foolproof solution as the beeping isn’t particularly loud, but it’s better than completely ignoring its presence for long periods of time.
Found a fraudulent AirTag? Make sure you get the serial number from either the recognition app or by removing the back of the AirTag before proceeding with deactivation.
To do this, press the center of the back panel and turn counterclockwise. This will open the AirTag so you can remove the battery inside. When you are finished, you should report the incident and the AirTag serial number to the police. Apple can then use the number to locate the owner of the AirTag.