Competitor brand Tile had its own version of trackers on the market years before the AirTag launched, but only introduced safety features in March 2022, a month after Apple announced theirs.Ĭommenting on these reactionary design changes, Charlotte Hooper, helpline manager at The Cyber Helpline, says: "You wouldn't allow a car to come to mass-market without having vigorous testing, so why are we allowing smart tech to just be released and then fixing safety features later?" It's not just Apple in hot water from critics, either. Specialists warn this is a troubling oversight, as it relies on Android users having the suspicion they are being tracked in the first place. Security experts welcome the new features, but warn they don't go far enough, as Android users aren't protected by Apple's integrated alert systems, and instead have to manually scan for unwanted AirTags using a separate Tracker Detect app. However, Apple has failed to confirm how quickly these alerts will now appear. Before February 2022, the device took anywhere between eight and 24 hours to send out alerts, giving stalkers ample time to track a victim's whereabouts. The tech giant also reduced the timeframe in which people will be alerted to an unknown AirTag. It remains uncertain whether the improved sound alerts have merely heightened the AirTag's tone style or actually play at a volume louder than the original 60 decibel sound. ![]() Not only are AirTags being used maliciously by criminals to stalk victims, they are also exploited in the context of abusive relationships, where perpetrators either overtly or covertly track a person's every move, entrenching a sense of fear, isolation and control.Īpple addressed concerns last year by improving its safety features, which included making the AirTag alert louder, in a bid to help people find suspicious devices more easily. Chillingly, experts say Apple's devices are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tech-enabled stalking. TikTok has been flooded with reports of women finding them hidden in cars, handbags, coat pockets or even children's backpacks. Did someone see me with my four-year-old trying to run errands? Did they see me struggling to put groceries in the car with a very active little one? I felt targeted."Īngelina is one of many women turning to social media to share their AirTag experience. I'm always taking my daughter to her sports practices. ![]() It freaked me out even more," she told The Mirror. "They went to great lengths to do it neatly wiping off the metal on the tyre well, taping it with electrical tape and then duct tape. The calculated technique used to plant the device made Angelina, from Chicago, USA, even more frightened. She used Apple's safety tool in the Find My app to force the AirTag to make a pinging sound, and after multiple attempts, finally found the tiny disc carefully taped to one of her tyre wells. Whoever was monitoring Angelina's whereabouts in February might now know where she lives and where her children had been that day.Īngelina, who only shared her first name to protect her safety, could tell from the map's location points that the AirTag was in her car. ![]() The small, wireless discs use Bluetooth technology to ping nearby Apple devices, which then report the last known location of the AirTag to other devices registered to it.
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