The AirTag, which was initially designed to help the disoriented locate their Apple gadgets, ended up being used as a bullying tool, leading to consumer complaints and legal actions against the Manzanita brand.

According to Apple’s website, this coin-sized sensor, which costs $29 in the United States, is “a pretty straightforward method to track items,” and they advise hanging it on your key chain, carrying it in your wallet, or putting it in your backpack.

An AirTag can help customers locate lost objects in real-time when connected to a smartphone app, but the transmitter can also follow people carrying those items, often without their awareness.

In June 2022, while American singer Alison Carney was getting ready to take the stage during a concert in Chicago, she discovered an AirTag in her suitcase.

Carney claimed he hadn’t placed the AirTag there and that his iPhone never alerted him that an unauthorized device had been discovered nearby.

Carney’s discovery clarified a number of puzzling occurrences throughout his life. Her ex-boyfriend had been relentlessly calling and messaging her since the end of their turbulent relationship. He had even knocked on her door in the middle of the night or shown up in the restaurants where she was dining.

“We discovered this AirTag, and it was then that I realized I wasn’t crazy. I became aware of a follower “Washington-based young woman spoke to AFP.

“I felt abused. I kept to myself. I no longer go out, “She spoke. “I am aware that someone may put a tracking device on my body or in my possessions and follow me for the rest of my life. Moreover, these technologies are becoming smaller and more evasive “She kept going, irate.

Carney wasn’t the only person in the US who had an AirTag placed on her against her will.

According to court records, a 26-year-old man in the state of Indiana was killed by his fiancée in June after she used AirTag to track his location because she thought he was cheating on her.

Apple’s reaction

Apple has brought up the matter and is aware of it. A Reuters photo

The most recent incident occurred on February 5 in Irving, a small Texas town located to the north of Dallas. According to Robert Reeves, spokesman for the neighborhood police, they had already dealt with a number of situations utilizing the well-known Apple sensor in which the victim and stalker were already acquainted.

Reeves claims that after receiving a complaint regarding this matter, the following step is to use the AirTag’s serial number to locate the account’s owner.

Carney, however, has not been able to definitively identify the person(s) responsible for the AirTag you found in your suitcase since he chose not to report it to the police out of fear of retaliation.

When AFP contacted Apple, the company responded with a press release from February 2022 denouncing “with the utmost firmness any malicious use” of its products and reiterating that the promised patches “had already came into force.”

But, more is required to persuade Lauren Hughes and Jane Doe, who brought legal actions against Apple in California. Jane Doe is a moniker used in the US when a person wishes to remain anonymous.

Doe said that her ex-husband twice fastened an AirTag to their son’s bag following their divorce.

Additionally, Hughes claimed in a lawsuit filed in December that he discovered an AirTag fastened to his car’s wheel well that had been colored in with a marker and wrapped in a plastic bag.

Both ladies criticize Apple in court documents for what they believe is an inadequate notice to customers about this sensor.

Company-sent AirTag alerts are only available on iPhones running iOS 14.5 or later and are not always immediate.

In addition to older Apple devices, Albert Cahn, a researcher at Harvard University and the executive director of the Surveillance Technologies Monitoring Project, is concerned about Android phone owners.

“Android users can only find devices if they first download an Apple app and then search for AirTags explicitly. Does Apple anticipate that Android users would spend their days making sure they aren’t being tracked?” told AFP, Cahn.

AFP information used.

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