AIRTAG users have been issued with a warning as the Apple device is branded a “gift to abusers”.
The coin-sized, wireless discs use Bluetooth technology to ping Apple devices nearby, which then report the last known location of the AirTag to other devices registered to it.
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They can be attached to wallets, bags or keys, to help people track their own valuables however it appears they can be used for more sinister ends.
Anyone wanting to monitor the moments of someone could attach one to, say, a car or a handbag and then track where they are.
Safety experts have branded the £35 devices that launched two years ago as a “gift to stalkers”.
In one shocking case mum Angelina, 29, was driving her four-year-old daughter to a birthday party was she got a notification on her phone alerting her to an unknown device that had been tracking her.
She became more concerned when her iPhone populated a map of her exact whereabouts from the previous 13 hours.
Whoever was monitoring her movements in February could very well know where she lived and what she had been doing.
The mum, who only gave her first name to protect her safety, said she felt “targeted” and “disgusted” that her family had been put at risk.
Angelina, from Chicago in the US, could tell from the map’s location points that the AirTag was in the car and she used Apple’s safety tool in the Find My app to force the AirTag to ping so she could find exactly where it was.
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After several attempts, she located the tiny disc taped to one of her tyre wells.
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. It freaked me out even more.
She added: “I was very shocked. It made me just feel so disgusted. I’m always taking my daughter to her sports practices.
“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.”
I was very shocked. It made me just feel so disgusted
Mum Angelina
Angelina is just one of many women who have used social media to highlight the problem and share their experiences.
Reports suggest women have discovered them hidden in cars, handbags, coat pockets as well as children’s backpacks.
As well as AirTags being used by criminals to stalk their victims they can also be exploited in situations of an abusive relationship where perpetrators can track a person’s every move, increasing the sense of fear, control and isolation.
Apple has been addressing concerns and taken steps to improve its safety features as well as working with safety groups and law enforcement to help prevent unwanted tracking.
The company strongly condemns any malicious use of their products.
Apple said in a statement: “Unwanted tracking has long been a societal problem, and we took this concern seriously in the design of AirTag. It’s why the Find My network is built with privacy in mind, uses end-to-end encryption, and why we innovated with the first-ever proactive system to alert you of unwanted tracking.”
It added: “Through our own evaluations and these discussions, we have identified even more ways we can update AirTag safety warnings and help guard against further unwanted tracking.
“We have been actively working with law enforcement on all AirTag-related requests we’ve received. Based on our knowledge and on discussions with law enforcement, incidents of AirTag misuse are rare.”
Security experts have welcomed the new features but say they don’t go far enough as Android users aren’t protected by Apple’s integrated alert systems, meaning they have to manually scan for the devices using a separate Tracker Detect app.
Charlotte Hooper, helpline manager at The Cyber Helpline said: “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?”
While mis-use of AirTags currently seems to be more prolific in the US, cases have also been occurring in the UK.
There are at least a dozen stalking cases involving devices like AirTags happening in Britain annually, according to the CPS.
MAN JAILED
In August last year, Christopher Trotman, from Townhill, Swansea, was jailed for nine weeks for stalking his former partner with an AirTag.
The device had been super-glued to the rear bumper of her car.
Tallulah Belassie-Page, a campaigns and policy officer from stalking charity Suzy Lampaugh Trust, says these cases are worryingly common.
In one case, a woman, who has not been identified, turned to the charity for help when an ex-partner attached an AirTag to the underside of her car.
The perpetrator has been arrested in relation to stalking and the police investigation is ongoing while the woman is fearful about the safety of herself and her son.
Tallulah said: “AirTags are unique in that they can be used by strangers, ex or current partners, or indeed any other acquaintance.
“Whereas more sophisticated types of tech, like video doorbells or smart speakers, might only be used within the context of an ex intimate partner relationship because they’d had access to those devices.”
It is important to remember that AirTag stalking is not just a technological problem, but a societal one.
Barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman
Experts stress that tech abuse is a symptom of the violence against women in society, not the cause.
Dr Lisa Sugiura, a reader in Cybercrime and Gender at the University of Portsmouth, said: “The validity of the Apple brand may legitimise the abuse and perpetrators may justify their stalking behaviours as they are ‘not doing anything wrong’, as this is what the product is ‘designed to do’.”
Dr Charlotte Proudman, an award-winning barrister specialising in violence against women, told the news outlet: “It is important to remember that AirTag stalking is not just a technological problem, but a societal one.
“The normalisation of controlling and coercive behaviour in relationships is the root cause of this issue.”
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