7/27/2023 0 Comments Apple key finder tagsLandhuis also suggested that people document the incident by taking screenshots and photos and keeping a log of notes in order to keep track of the details. "If the offender is monitoring the victim's actions and sees that the AirTag has now gone to the police station, that can escalate the situation and put a victim more in danger," she said, suggesting that finding a public place where you can safely contact police by phone and have an officer meet you might be a safer alternative. There are no hard-and-fast rules on what you should do if you suspect you are being tracked, said Jennifer Landhuis, the director of the Stalking Prevention Awareness and Resource Center.Īpple recommends people contact local law enforcement, and Landhuis advises victims to be thoughtful about how to do so in the safest way possible. What you can do if you are being maliciously tracked However, some law enforcement agencies have pointed out that removing the AirTag's battery could potentially contaminate it as evidence. Doing so not only stops it from updating its current location but also alerts the device's owner. However, if you do fear you are being maliciously tracked, AirTags can be deactivated by removing the battery. The device and the item it's attached to may genuinely be lost. I was concerned very shortly after they were released when I started seeing reports of stalking and being contacted by people who were being stalked using these devices," she told NPR.Īpple notes that receiving a notification of an unknown AirTag does not necessarily mean that you are being followed. "I was concerned ahead of their release as soon as I figured out how they worked. The idea behind AirTags is not revolutionary, but there are some notable differences in the technology from older tracking devices.ĪirTags do not have a built-in GPS system and instead piggyback off the location data of nearby Apple devices by emitting a continuous Bluetooth signal, which is then viewable by the tag's owner.Įva Galperin, the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said she was alarmed even before the product's launch last spring. "Based on our knowledge and on discussions with law enforcement, incidents of AirTag misuse are rare however, each instance is one too many," it said. In response, Apple issued a statement last week saying it was working with law enforcement on all requests and is planning to roll out additional software updates to help iPhone users become more aware of and locate unknown AirTags that were following them. We look forward to testing out the update with our own AirTag to see if the situation's improved.We still don’t know where it came from or who’s it is… #airtag #sketchy #tracking #fyp ♬ original sound - Troxell These latest measures don't make the AirTag's security bulletproof, but it addresses the chief flaws that caused outlets like the Washington Post to declare that Apple's tracker made it extremely easy to keep tabs on people without their knowledge. Meanwhile, iPhone and iPad users should update to the latest versions of iOS/iPadOs to make sure they get the alerts. That should close some of the gap between Android and iPhone users with AirTag. However, Apple also plans to release an Android app later this year that will let anyone with an Android device know sooner if they're being tracked by an AirTag. That may not always help a person being stalked by someone with whom they live, as the separation-alert countdown resets when a maliciously placed AirTag comes within range of its paired iPhone. "This time period is changing from three days to a random time between 8 and 24 hours," Apple said in a statement. The over-the-air update issued by Apple causes the separated-from-my-iPhone alert to sound much sooner on an AirTag than it did originally. Similarly, on-screen notifications alerting you that you were being tracked by an AirTag only appeared if you were running a fully updated iPhone. Other reports said the alert beeps weren't very loud and were hard to hear if an AIrTag was in a bag or heavy item of clothing. AirTags were supposed to offer anti-stalking features that notified you if an unauthorized AirTag was revealing your location information, but reviewers like Gizmodo's Caitlin McGarry quickly discovered some flaws in Apple's approach.Īn AirTag separated from its paired iPhone was supposed to sound an alarm after a while, for example, but that alert usually didn't come until three days later.
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