Apple is taking steps to battle AirTag monitoring

 

Photo Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

Apple is taking steps to battle AirTag monitoring by introducing a variety of improvements that will make it more difficult to track someone using AirTags.

The devices are designed to operate with Apple's 'Find My' system, which allows users to track down missing objects.

The company claims that the improvements to the gadget would make it easier to spot suspicious tags and will inform customers sooner if an AirTag is traveling with them.

A number of women told the BBC in January that they had been followed using AirTags.

AirTags were introduced by Apple in April of last year. The little, circular devices can be fastened to baggage, keys, or anything else that can be misplaced.

However, disguised in a car or on a personal object such as a bag, the devices can be used to track people.

Apple noted that as part of the modifications to make misuse more difficult, any user setting up their AirTag for the first time would get a notice that using the device to follow individuals without their permission is illegal in many countries.

If an AirTag moves with them, iPhone owners (and Android users who download an app) receive an unpleasant tracking alert.

People will be notified sooner if an unknown AirTag is traveling with them, according to Apple.

Users of iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 devices will be able to use precision finding to view the distance and direction to an unknown AirTag when it is in range when they are warned of unwanted tracking by an AirTag. This could previously only be done by the AirTag's owner.

To make the suspect AirTag play tones, iOS users can send an unwelcome tracking alert, and Apple has stated that tags will use louder tones in the future to make the tag easier to locate.

The business also announced that it will improve a function that makes an AirTag that hasn't been with the person who registered it for a long time play a sound when transferred.

In principle, this may reveal the presence of an AirTag to a stalker victim, but recent revelations revealed that AirTags without speakers had been discovered for sale online.

To fight this, a warning will show on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when the sound is activated and the AirTag is spotted moving.

However, because of their precision, they can be utilized as sophisticated tracking tools in the wrong hands.

This isn't just a theory; as the BBC revealed last month, evidence exists that people are using AirTags to track others.

The AirTags themselves are new, and it's evident that Apple hasn't figured out how to keep people safe yet.

For example, it took AirTag six months after its inception to release an app that alerted Android users to an unwelcome AirTag.

Campaigners have been pressing for Apple to release more improvements later this year, such as precision locating and AirTags that generate louder noises.