Private eyes, they’re watching you

Apple air tags are a new wireless device that help you locate things such as your keys, wallet, back pack, dog, etc

Simply attached the tag to the item you want to be able to track. You then open the Find My app on your iPhone, tap on items and you can see where the item is. You can make the air tag play a sound to help you locate the item. This is great for finding lost items

Here is the problem with the air tag. It can be used for unwanted tracking. I placed an air tag in my daughter’s back pack as he went out for the day with her friends. I was able to see her address at her friends house, then the mall, then the restaurant they went to.

In an effort to thwart stalking, apple programmed the air tag to display a message on the nearest iPhone 3 hours after the air tag was no where near phone that registered it.

So 3 hours after my daughter left me a message appeared on my daughter’s friends phone that an air tag was connected to her phone. That was a little awkward but worked as designed as the air tags use the apple iPhone network to connect to the closest iPhone it finds and that was my daughter’s friend.

2 hours after that my daughter received an alert on her phone. The alert does also give you instructions to deactivate the device. That was the last alert she received.

However the air tag did play a low audible ding, but it it is not very loud and hard to hear in a crowded area. if you have an android phone you will not receive any text message if the air tag is on or near you. This can be scary in the wrong situation.

Hopefully Apple will push out updates to the air tags to prevent unwanted tracking and protect your privacy.

So while the air tag is good for tracking lost items, it does little to protect you in the case of unwanted tracking.