Apple continues to struggle to limit the dangers of AirTag, providing owner information to police if needed

Since its launch last year, the features Apple advertises for AirTag have been overshadowed by privacy concerns. People are gradually thinking of AirTag as an accessory for bad guys, those who illegally follow others.

It’s clear that Apple’s protections against malicious use cases are not doing much, given the frequent reports of AirTag tracking, in which many cases are women.

As Apple continues to struggle to prevent AirTags from being used in illegal activities, Apple says it will work with law enforcement to provide details of accounts paired with AirTag if police make valid requests. The company claims to have had a case where it worked with the police to successfully find suspects, getting them arrested and charged.

Apple said that in upcoming updates to AirTag, it will display warnings to customers about the purpose of AirTags and the consequences of misuse. After installing the update, users who set up AirTag for the first time will see a warning message that it is illegal to track others and that law enforcement may request identifying information about the owner. own AirTag from Apple.

“AirTag is associated with your Apple ID. AirTag is only for tracking items that belong to you. Using AirTag to track others without their consent is an offense in many areas of the world. AirTag is designed for victim detection and allows law enforcement to request identifying information about the owner.”

The update will also remove the vague term “Unknown Accessory Detected”. Now, when an AirTag, third-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, or a third-party accessory that supports the Find My network has been removed from its owner and is near you, you will receive it. alert on your iPhone about that exact device.

According to Apple, the “Unknown Accessory Detected” warning will still appear in some cases, but it’s definitely not AirTag. ” This could be a borrowed AirPods or an AirPods that was accidentally left by a friend or family member,” the company said.

Another feature Apple is scheduled to release “later this year” is Precision Finding for AirTag. This feature will point iPhone users to the exact location of unknown nearby AirTags. This feature is only available to iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 users, who can see the distance and navigate to the AirTag through a combination of audio, haptic feedback, and visual feedback.

Recently, we learned about AirTags sold online that disabled their speakers, preventing them from sounding an alert. In response, Apple will also play an alert on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch so you can find your AirTag by sound or Precision Finding if your device supports it. Apple says that this feature will be useful if the sound from the AirTag is hard to hear or if the speaker has been disabled.

Other minor updates will include changing the sound of the AirTag to make it easier to hear and further optimizing the alert system.

“AirTag is designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track other people or property, and we condemn that practice in the strongest possible terms.” , Apple wrote in a blog post.

There is no specific timeline for when these new features will be released, Apple only says late 2022. These updates are designed for users of Apple products and Android users who have not yet received them. Get any new updates on AirTag resistance.

The new features are a step forward in making the AirTag less useful to stalkers, but the reality is that Apple itself didn’t scrutinize the possibility of bad guys abusing the device before releasing it.

Despite these measures, privacy advocates have strongly criticized AirTag, many of whom have warned of the possibility of AirTag allowing crooks to track others. Unfortunately, these ominous warnings are accurate, as there are consistently reports of AirTag being used for tracking. The police force also recently showed how AirTag is being used to steal cars.

AirTag isn’t the only or first device with tracking capabilities. However, according to security researchers, AirTag is a particularly serious threat, as Apple makes every iOS device part of a network for AirTag to use and report location. With the popularity of Apple devices, tracking with AirTag will be very accurate. Although a fairly useful product, but AirTag is gradually becoming Apple’s biggest scandal this year.

Reference: Gizmodo