Are Apple’s AirTags a tool for stalkers? Or is this the usual impulsive hype that comes with every new Apple product?
NO STALKING — AirTags and Find My Privacy Explained!
AirTags are little disks that can track and find bags, pets, and keys. They can also track people, which of course raises privacy concerns. Apple has built in several safeguards to prevent people from tracking others with AirTags, but do they work? Could abusive spouses use these cool little tracker tiles to terrorize their partners? Could cops use them for unauthorized tracking?
“Apple has taken extraordinary measures to prevent stalkers from using the AirTag as a tracking device, but as with any technology, malicious actors have taken extraordinary measures to circumvent this,” Ryszard (Rick) Gold of Apple's repair and support company The Stem Group told Lifewire via email.
AirTags are designed to help you find any object the same way you can find a lost iPhone: using the built-in Find My app. They do this by emitting a periodic Bluetooth blip. This anonymous blip is picked up by any passing iPhone and relayed to Apple, along with the location of that interaction.
