Picture this: you have a meeting at 9am, and it’s 8:20am. You’ve searched everywhere for your keys, yet you just can’t seem to find them. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you had a device that could automatically locate missing objects like your keys? Apple seems to think so, which is why they created AirTags. AirTags are small tag devices that can be placed on items you want to keep up with. The tag is a tracking device that communicates its location via Bluetooth to the owner of the AirTag’s “Find My” app on their iPhone.
However, what started out as a seemingly helpful product has been making headlines for over the past year since its release in April 2021. And not the good kind.
Apple needs to reconsider the AirTag. I’ve seen so many horror stories about it.
— m. (@mpumelelx) February 6, 2022
Many people began reporting that they were finding AirTags stuck to their cars and personal items to track them. This is because AirTags currently have a feature that sends a notification saying “AirTag Found Moving With You: The location of this AirTag can be seen by the owner.” to the iPhones of the people that the AirTag is traveling with. As recent as last week, on February 3rd, Naugatuck Police reported that an AirTag had been attached to a woman’s car by her ex boyfriend, who she had a protective order against. In a response to these situations frequently occurring, Apple updated the AirTags on February 9th, 2022.
While this article is being written so close in time to this announcement, we do not have a full scope of numerical data to report on how many conversations this will continue to spark on social media over the next few days. However, since their announcement, the search terms “Apple” and “AirTag” have generated 3.28K mentions and reached an audience of 281.94M users. Twitter remains the central hub of these conversations, with 1,790 of these mentions.
The updates to the AirTag include:
- Explicitly telling AirTag owners that the product is not designed to track people and can be considered illegal in parts of the world.
- Later this year, people being tracked by AirTags will be able to see specifically where the AirTag is located on their “Find My” app.
- Increase the sound volume that it already plays when it’s been around a person for awhile.
- Decrease the alert time from the current 8 to 12 hours so that potentially tracked people will be notified sooner.
Public opinion has already been mixed on these products. With the new updates though, this should decrease the time it takes for a person to become aware that they are being stalked and deter AirTag owners from using it for a force of evil.
AirTag is getting more scrutiny than other item trackers, but I also believe that is making it more secure. Initially I believed this was a PR minefield for Apple, but it’s also neccessary part of getting a grip on privacy and security in their ecosystem.
— Michael Kukielka (@DetroitBORG) February 10, 2022
https://twitter.com/Digi1701/status/1491989737300803593
Author: Eden Wallace
