The attorney generals of New York and Pennsylvania have issued warnings about the risk posed by Apple AirTags as a stalking tool.
Since the personal tracking devices were released in April last year, it wasn’t long before people started to misuse them to track people without their consent.
The size of the device makes it perfect to slip into pockets and purses undetected.
To tackle the threat posed by the button-sized devices, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a consumer alert on Wednesday that using AirTags to stalk people would be treated as a felony.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has taken a similar stance and even offered tips to identify whether an AirTag has been placed on your person.
According to Apple, AirTags send out a ‘secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network’.
These devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud from where you can track it.
‘The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect your privacy,’ states Apple on its website.
In January, a number of women told the BBC they had been followed using AirTags.
Last month, a 26-year old American model shared with her Instagram followers that an AirTag had been slipped into her coat.
Brooks Nader raised safety fears after receiving a notification on her iPhone that an unknown AirTag had been ‘moving with her for a while’ and that ‘the owner could see its location.’
Apple seems to have taken note of the issue and announced plans to introduce a number of changes to make it harder to misuse AirTags to stalk someone.
As part of the changes to make misuse harder, Apple said every user setting up their AirTag for the first time will see a message warning that using the device to track people without consent is a crime in many regions around the world.
Currently, iPhone users (and Android users who download an app) receive ‘unwanted tracking’ alerts if an unknown AirTag moves with them. Apple has announced that people will be alerted earlier that an unknown AirTag is travelling with them.
When warned of ‘unwanted tracking’ by an AirTag, users of iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 will be able to use ‘precision finding’, to see the distance and direction of an unknown AirTag when it is in range. Previously only the owner of the AirTag could do this.
Now iOS users can send an unwanted tracking alert to make the suspect AirTag play tones and Apple has said tags will use louder tones in the future to make them easier to locate.
The company said it would also add to a feature that makes an AirTag that hasn’t been with the person who registered it for an extended period of time, play a sound when moved.
In theory, this could reveal the presence of an AirTag to a stalking victim, but recent reports revealed that AirTags with the internal speakers deactivated had been listed for sale online. To counter this, when the sound is triggered and the AirTag is detected moving with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, an alert will also appear on that device.
Apple also updated its user guide for ‘anyone who is concerned about or experience technology-enabled abuse, stalking or harassment.’
MORE : Apple publishes AirTag ‘Personal Safety User Guide’ amid stalking fears
MORE : How can you protect yourself from being tracked by an AirTag?
