Spying on your spouse is a phenomenon as old as the world, but Apple AirTags bring it up to date. And even more and more. The Vice site has scoured dozens of police stations across the United States looking for complaints related to this tag. Of the 150 police reports recovered, around fifty come from women who have detected one of these famous Apple discs in their surroundings. In half of these cases, the victims of this policing suspected a specific person to be at the origin. It is usually a jealous and vengeful ex-spouse. Sometimes it is also a possessive husband or a libidinous boss… There is also a case where the victim is a man and the stalker a woman.
In almost all documented cases, the Apple AirTag is hidden somewhere in the victim’s car. Sometimes there are even several. The beacon is not always easy to find and sometimes requires the intervention of a mechanic. The harassers, on the other hand, are not particularly discreet. Often, they don’t hesitate to show themselves when they follow their victims.
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Probably, this is only the tip of the iceberg, because not all alerts necessarily lead to the filing of a complaint. We can therefore assume that there are many more, which could seriously tarnish the image of Apple, which probably does not want to be the preferred supplier of sexual harassers. Certainly, the existence of these reports proves that the detection mechanism created by the firm works well. It must be said that Apple has considerably strengthened the safeguards over time.
Originally, an AirTag abandoned by its owner only started to squeak automatically after three days. But quickly, Apple reduced this period to less than 24 hours, precisely to fight against harassment. The company also has improved its algorithms to more quickly detect the presence of a nearby AirTag spy. She developed an Android app to extend the detection capability to non-Apple users. And she multiplied the warning texts during the installation of such a machine.
A dangerous product?
But in the end, it is not very convincing, because at the time of the alert, the damage is already done. As for Android users, they do not necessarily know of the existence of an alert app. Asked by Vice, Albert Fox Cahn, who heads the citizen association Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), believes that Apple has considerably democratized the use of such cookies. “Thanks to Apple, bullying has never been easier or cheaper. With an AirTag, it is possible to follow someone anywhere in the world (…) The only solution is to stop the marketing of AirTags. This product is far too dangerous to remain on the market,” he believes. If cases of harassment continue to multiply, it is not impossible that Apple resigns itself to doing so.
Source: Vice