Apple wants to put an end to stalkers and monitoring through AirTags

Cases where Apple AirTags are used for malicious purposes have now become a scourge. There are many times when experts watch their victims by sticking AirTags on cars and other valuables to strike at the right time, while there have been more extreme situations of tracking people – the so-called stalking.

Cupertino’s company has now announced a series of changes aimed at resolving the issue and redefining the original purpose of AirTags, which are “designed to help people track their belongings rather than track others”. Apple is quick to acknowledge that it is cooperating with the authorities on any AirTags-related incidents, saying “malicious incidents are rare, but even one case is more than it should be.”

He then says that he will further improve the unaware monitoring through AirTag by improving the “Find My” application.

The anti-stalking changes in AirTags

In the changes that will be included in an upcoming software update, Apple says that every user who activates an AirTag will see a notification that “clearly states” that the AirTag is being used to track personal items and not the world. It will also explicitly state that each AirTag is associated with the Apple ID and that the police can request the relevant information.

Another improvement would be how the user is notified of an unknown “Find My” accessory – such as AirTag – if detected near an iPhone, because in the past users saw a fuzzy “Unknown Accessory” notification that was the same if someone has AirPods in their possession.

With the future software update these notifications will separate each accessory by its name. For example if you have an AirPods Pro pair with you then the app will feature “Detected AirPods Pro” instead of “Unknown Accessories” so that the user can understand what is and what is not.

In the case of an AirTag, the notification on your iPhone will explicitly state: “An AirTag was found to be moving with you”. It also aims to improve the detailed detection of Find My app, thanks to the U1 chip of the iPhones that integrate it to give them instructions such as “the AirTag is 2 meters to your left.” But this feature will come later in 2022.

In addition, the AirTag will be able to produce an alert sound when it leaves its owner at random intervals between 8 and 24 hours. Each time it produces this sound, all nearby iPhones will be notified that an AirTag has been lost to make it easier to find. Apple says that this improvement will help AirTags that have cleverly damaged its speaker. In fact, it will produce louder sound and different frequency as he mentions, without specifying how much louder the sound will be – at the moment it is measured at 60db.

Unboxholics

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