Several women who believe they were tracked with AirTags say Apple's safeguards against stalking are insufficient
Privacy groups sounded alarms about the coin-sized location-tracking devices when they were introduced. Now people are concerned those fears are being realized.
New York Times
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had presented AirTags as item trackers with anti-stalking protections, while experts had already described how an abuser could discreetly track a partner, particularly where the potential victim was not using iOS. These accounts turn that earlier design-risk debate into a concrete safety challenge for the product.
First-order effects
People who believe they were tracked are left relying on safeguards they say do not adequately prevent or resolve unwanted location tracking.
Apple faces a direct challenge to the anti-stalking protections it had outlined for AirTags and to its claim that the devices are intended for items rather than people.
The reported gap for people outside Apple's device ecosystem raises the stakes for safeguards that work independently of the potential victim's phone platform.
If that standard persists, safety protections for low-cost tracking hardware will become a product-design requirement rather than a secondary privacy feature.
The trend: Consumer location-tracking devices are moving from privacy-by-design claims toward accountability for how their safeguards perform in stalking and abuse cases.
This means that if someone's Find My Network accessory is in your pocket / bag / car and that person is not with you for a period of time, odds of receiving the notification are high. This likely explains people flocking online to say they received the notification.
@neilcybart I don't like the media's narrative. It seems borne of ignorance to drive clicks (once again). Ask @_inside about the thousands of AirPods (etc) his @airbuddyapp picks up for each of his users, and you'll discover that these media reports are largely nothingburgers. ht…
This example goes to show my point that #digitization inevitably entails #surveillance, and no amount of encryption, users “owning” their devices, or security measures will change that. #privacy #Apple #Airtags https://www.nytimes.com/...
A detail that many people may not be aware of. If you receive a “Item Detected Near You” notification that many people have been associating with a misused AirTag being put in their bag etc., the notification is actually for any Find My network accessory separated from its owner.…
It's actually very easy for this to happen by accident. Consider all of the potential products. I suspect AirPods Pro (with iOS 15), which may be put in a friend's or family members' purse/bag for safekeeping etc., are a leading driver of “Item Detected Near You” notifications. h…
What happens when a feature for some becomes a bug for others? More importantly, how is a feature that can be a big privacy bug for some allowed to be brought to market? Illustrative example from Apple Airtags. Good read from @kashhill & @RMac18. https://www.nytimes.com/...
I can't get over how Apple made portable GPS tracking devices that are obviously stalkerware, made them difficult to detect unless you have an iPhone and is now surprised people are pointing out the obvious. How could no one on the team see this coming? https://www.nytimes.com/..…
This blog is such a weird takeaway of our piece to defend Apple. It cites the two examples where there were seemingly no stalking intentions, but leaves out the literal first example of a woman who found an AirTag behind the license plate of her car. https://daringfireball.net/..…
Even with the protections Apple built in, this example shows how someone you live with (or near) could track you with an AirTag for A WHILE before you realized it. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
When Apple released tiny AirTags to “keep track of your stuff,” the company said the coin-sized devices shouldn't be used to track people. But of course that's how some people are using them because people are creepy. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@kashhill We spoke to one high school senior who was notified she was being tracked by an unknown AirTag and frantically searched her car, only for her mom to tell her later that she put it on the vehicle to track her whereabouts. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/.…
Seriously, it took the NYT 8 months to figure this out? Google thought about building this 8 years ago and I stopped them. Airtags should be banned. https://twitter.com/...
Unpopular opinion: AirTags are too dangerous and need to be shut down. Yes, Tile trackers existed before, but the combination of cheap AirTags with the ubiquity of Apple's Find My network being on every Apple device means AirTags are a terrifying tool for stalkers and thieves.
I think everyone can see the utility in AirTags. (For ex, I use a Tile to find my cat.) But for every good use case w/ tech, there is always a bad use case. And Apple's safeguards are not enough to help those who say they are targets of nefarious use. https://www.nytimes.com/...
When Apple released AirTags last April, privacy experts predicted they would be used to stalk unsuspecting people. We spoke to seven women who believed they were being tracked, including some who found the devices on their cars. From @kashhill and me. https://www.nytimes.com/...