Since their launch last spring, AirTags have been at the center of several people-tracking controversies. In the United States, there is even talk of a law prohibiting this use, following the media coverage of several cases.
AirTags: an American elected official wants a law against the tracking of people
In a new communication, Apple remember that AirTags are only used to track objects, not people. ” We condemn in the strongest possible way the malicious use of our products “, writes the builder. In addition to these cases of abusive tracking, Apple is also aware of the unwanted alerts received when borrowing the keyring from a loved one or when traveling in the car of a family member where an AirPod is lying around.
This is why Apple is implementing a series of measures and safeguards to prevent AirTags from becoming a stalker’s best ally.
Point 1: Apple works with law enforcement when they report incidents of misuse of AirTags. Incidents ” rares “, explains the manufacturer, but ” every incident is one incident too many “. Apple can provide account information associated with beacons, which it has done on several occasions. In this context, Apple will improve the documentation intended for the police.
On the user side, new alert messages will appear during the AirTag configuration process. It will be clearly mentioned there that the cookie is intended for objects, not for people (which is condemnable in several countries, the police have the possibility of obtaining information on the account associated with a malicious beacon). This new process will appear in an upcoming iOS update.
The alert ” Unknown accessory detected about AirPods (3rd Gen, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and Find My enabled earphones) will be improved, now it will say it’s an AirPod rather than that scary anonymous message. Again, this will be integrated into the future version of iOS.
Apple has also beefed up this help sheet What to do if an alert indicates that an AirTag (or Find My enabled accessory) is improperly moving with the user. The webpage is now more digestible and contains explanatory screenshots (it has not yet been updated in French).
Later this year, Apple will also improve the Precise Location function which displays the distance and direction to an AirTag: unknown AirTags will be eligible for it (on iPhones equipped with a U1 chip, from iPhone 11 therefore). Currently, only known AirTags can benefit from this feature.
When an AirTag emits a sound to warn of its presence, a notification will also be displayed on the user’s iPhone, iPad or iPod touch from which it will be possible to play a sound and to get the precise location of the beacon. How to answer the problem of AirTags sold without speakers…
The builder is also thinking about modifying the logic behind the alert system for unwanted tags. It’s about alerting the person earlier when an AirTag or Find My enabled device is sneaking around with them. Finally, the sound produced by the AirTag, when it unduly follows a user, will be revised to use more higher frequencies. This will make it easier to find it.
As far as Android support is concerned, Apple has been offering since last December a dedicated application, Tracker Detect, which certainly has the merit of existing but which requires the user to be willing to download, install and use it. Apple’s press release does not mention any improvement on this point.