In April 2021, Apple released the AirTag, a device for tracking down misplaced objects. The coin-sized device can be attached to keys or wallets to connect them to Apple’s network and allow them to be tracked on an iPhone.
However, there have been numerous reports of AirTags being used to track people without their knowledge since the devices were introduced.
Jennifer Gaston told FOX 35 that she believes this occurred during her family’s recent trip to Walt Disney World. The family received a notice on their phones while riding the monorail back to their car, stating that an unknown AirTag was traveling with them, she explained to the television station.
“We were terrified, we were confused, hurt, and scared,” Gaston told FOX 35.
The family frantically searched their car for the device, shaking it off in their parking space before driving away and phoning the cops, according to the station.
“As she was refreshing it, it showed the AirTag was still in our parking spot at Disney, so upon us shaking our clothes and frantically dumping everything out of our bags, somehow it fell out,” Gaston told WSVN-TV.
Throughout the Tampa Bay area, officials have received similar reports of unauthorized tracking. There have been at least eight probable complaints in Pasco County since September 2021, one in Polk County when a guy discovered a case in his pickup under his spare tire, and two in Hillsborough County.
You might be wondering what Apple plans to do about the mounting privacy issues involving AirTags. The business said in February that it would release a series of software updates to address the safety concerns.
Changes to the AirTag’s setup procedure and how it alerts users are among the initial improvements. Apple said in a statement that anyone setting up an AirTag for the first time will see a notification stating that the device is intended to track their personal possessions. Using an AirTag to track someone without their knowledge is illegal in many parts of the world, according to the message, and law authorities can request identifying information about an AirTag’s owner using the serial number.
Later this year, the company says it’ll investigate issuing more updates to allow people who may unknowingly be tracked to locate an AirTag with precision using several technologies in an iPhone to point the user in the right direction of the device. The speaker volume in an unknown AirTag also will be maxed to allow someone to find it easier and, if the speaker has been tampered with, an audio alert and message will display on a person’s iPhone.
If an unfamiliar AirTag is traveling with them, users will receive an alert on their phone sooner.
However, as The Verge points out, there are still some “important unsolved issues,” such as when these updates will be accessible and how much sooner a user would be warned if an unknown AirTag approaches them.
Sources: Dailywire, Fox35orlando, Arynews