Apple refining AirTag privacy, Android anti-stalking app coming soon
Apple is reportedly working to increase the privacy of AirTags, which includes the planned launch of an Android app that will allow non-iPhone users to detect an unwanted tracking accessory.
Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsiderCredit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider
The Cupertino tech giant has told CNET that it is tweaking a specific anti-stalking alert setting on AirTag. More specifically, it's changing the window of time when an AirTag will begin emitting an alert if it's being used to potentially stalk a person.
Current AirTag anti-stalking measures cause the accessory to play an alert when separated from their owner within three days. Now, it'll play at a random time window that's between eight and 24 hours, CNET reported Thursday.
Additionally, Apple said that it is developing an app for Android devices that will allow users of the operating system to "detect" whether an AirTag or other Find My-enabled device is traveling with them.
No exact release date for the Android app was given, but Apple said the app would launch later in 2021. The updated alert time window on the other hand, should be rolling out to AirTags starting Thursday. The update will be automatically applied when near a connected iPhone.
AirTags went on sale in May for $29 each or $99 for a four-pack. Unlike competing trackers on the market, AirTags benefit from Apple's existing Find My network, allowing users to track devices by leveraging Apple products owned by other people.
In addition to a suite of privacy protections, AirTags also contain anti-stalking measures. That includes the aforementioned alerts if an unwanted AirTag is traveling with a user, as well as a feature that allows iPhone owners to get instructions on how to disable an AirTag that may be surveilling them.
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Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsiderCredit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider
The Cupertino tech giant has told CNET that it is tweaking a specific anti-stalking alert setting on AirTag. More specifically, it's changing the window of time when an AirTag will begin emitting an alert if it's being used to potentially stalk a person.
Current AirTag anti-stalking measures cause the accessory to play an alert when separated from their owner within three days. Now, it'll play at a random time window that's between eight and 24 hours, CNET reported Thursday.
Additionally, Apple said that it is developing an app for Android devices that will allow users of the operating system to "detect" whether an AirTag or other Find My-enabled device is traveling with them.
No exact release date for the Android app was given, but Apple said the app would launch later in 2021. The updated alert time window on the other hand, should be rolling out to AirTags starting Thursday. The update will be automatically applied when near a connected iPhone.
AirTags went on sale in May for $29 each or $99 for a four-pack. Unlike competing trackers on the market, AirTags benefit from Apple's existing Find My network, allowing users to track devices by leveraging Apple products owned by other people.
In addition to a suite of privacy protections, AirTags also contain anti-stalking measures. That includes the aforementioned alerts if an unwanted AirTag is traveling with a user, as well as a feature that allows iPhone owners to get instructions on how to disable an AirTag that may be surveilling them.
Follow all of WWDC 2021 with comprehensive AppleInsider coverage of the week-long event from June 7 through June 11, including details on new launches and updates.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
The irony is that it was the Washington Post that published an extremely damning article on how the AirTag would be used by stalkers - the same Washington Post owned by Jeff Bezos, whose own Amazon Sidewalk mesh network is going online next week. I would bet any amount of money that the Post won't be publishing any stories on how Sidewalk-enabled devices will be abused by stalkers.
Here is info on the firmware version and how to check it...
The new version of AirTag software build rolling out today is build number 1A276d and firmware version 1.0.276. This is up from the previous firmware version of 1.0.225, which is the version that AirTags shipped with at launch.
On your iPhone, open the Find My application, then choose the Items tab in the bottom navigation bar. Then, choose your AirTag from the list of items and tap on the name of your AirTag. Doing this should reveal the serial number and firmware version of your AirTag.
Again, if your AirTag does not show that it’s running the latest firmware, there is no way to force it to update. Instead, just make sure your AirTag is in range of your iPhone, and it should automatically update.
I know it makes for glamorous photography to show the AirTags in these fancy cases hooked on the outside of bags and things, but…. Wouldn’t you want the AirTag to be inconspicuously located? So a would-be thief wouldn’t simply ditch the AirTag and make off with the belonging? Just my perspective on that.
Jumping the shark: "An idiom used to describe the moment of a misguided attempt at generating new publicity for something once, but no longer, widely popular; the attempt serves instead to highlight the irrelevance of what it intends to promote."
Your stationary AirTag in a closet would not be moving. Even if you tie her up every day and place her in the closet with the luggage (hey, I don't kink shame), they'd both still be stationary in the closet. So no beep. Even if proximity was the only trigger, there'd still be no guarantee of beeping since 8 hours isn't a static time limit. You could be back home 10 hours later and in my made up circumstance where proximity was the only trigger, remove your wife from the closet and return her to the basement lockup (again, no kink shaming from me) with nary a peep from your AirTag.
Also, AirTags have a feature where you or your family members can deactivate AirTag notifications for a day or permanently. I probably could have led with that piece of info, but it's not often I get to incorporate S&M habits (alleged) into an Appleinsider post.
The real problem is this - it is impossible for Apple to separate the intended function of the AirTag from situations where it could be abused. As many have pointed out, even 8 hours is more than enough time for a stalker to locate you. A tracking device is a tracking device - you can't make it a "good" tracking device without making it useless. It's like trying to make a knife that will cut food but somehow can't be used to cut other things. The only way is to dull the blade to the point where it can't cut anything.
Apple is headed down the path of making the AirTag useless because it will wind up constantly annoying its users. And I expect that Sidewalk-enabled Tile trackers will never get one paragraph of mention in a Washington Post article.
If you leave an item with a tag at a family member's house wouldn't you want the item to beep? Which it would only do if moved. Same with an item left at work.
Tracking devices have existed for decades. Small unobtrusive trackers have been available for at least a decade. Apple's entry is no more or problem than any of the others have been. I'd even argue it's less of an issue because more people would be likely to know what one is if spotted. The AirTag really isn't a stealthy tracker... in shape or size.
Maybe this support doc will help. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227
You are correct Apple will never come up with a 100% solution. But the current solution does cover pretty much all of your examples.*
1. If I loan a friend something, my friend would have to carry said item with them for 8-24 hours to get it to get a notification. The notification process requires the person and the AirTag to be moving together.
2. I leave it at work. Again, movement with another persons is a key to the notification. I guess if worked as an Airline employee and left on long haul flights I could trigger a notification. But for any sort of office or retail work it would't be moving if I left it at work.
3. Family Member's house. Unless the house is moving, no notification.
I think the issue here is a lack of understanding of what actually triggers the notification. AirTag Separated from owner + Moving with another individual + 8-24 hours.
* Said friend could disable the AirTag
All in all I think the instances where the AirTag sounds an alert are probably pretty rare. There are three people in my household with five tags between us. And while it has only been a few weeks since they came out we have exactly zero instances of alerts being sounded. I'm skeptical that we will end up annoyed.
"Do you really think the average Apple user geofences everything he or she owns?" What? You don't "geofence everything", you specify where your Home or Work locations are in your contact card, so you can use location-aware features of Siri, Find My, etc. If you leave an AirTag at work — even if you haven't specified your work location — if it's not moving, it won't make a sound. Per Apple, "When moved, any AirTag separated for a period of time from the person who registered it will make a sound to alert those nearby." If you loan an item to a friend, and that item is going to be moved around, remove the AirTag first. Also from Apple: "If the AirTag is attached to something you’re borrowing and you want to silence these alerts, tap Pause Safety Alerts."
You're claiming Apple's new product will fail because "they'll constantly annoy their users", entirely based on false assumptions due to not understanding how the product functions. Any other speculation beyond that is pointless for that reason alone.
The "real problem" you posit is no more applicable to AirTag than any other tracking device. Guess what, you could already track people with little GPS trackers that work even better than AirTags do. My neighbor retrieved their cat's collar that had a GPS device on it in my yard — were they stalking their cat? Perhaps. If your point is that Apple shouldn't enter this product space, nobody cares, and it's too late anyway. If your point is that Apple will make them "too annoying" and thereby useless, I call bullshit and also nobody cares. If you think this will cause a surge in stalking and violent crimes, I call bullshit.
Use Case #1 - Own Vehicle(s)
I have an AirTag placed on my own vehicle as a form of anti-theft. This allows me to:
- be able to locate my own vehicle in large malls (indoor, underground or multi-storey carparks) when I have forgotten which exact area or lot I have parked in;
- in many countries, we do not live in landed properties but apartment blocks where the carpark is underground or multi-storey hence the AirTag placed in our own vehicle will not be constantly within range of our iPhone;
- since launch day and placement in my own vehicle, AirTag (and its Find-My network) has become the best anti-theft mechanism any vehicle ever has cause now anyone with an iPhone walking by, I know my vehicle is safely parked at the underground carpark where I live;
- this use-case allows parents to be able to know if their children may have 'stolen' the vehicle without permission, and potentially where the vehicle/children may have gone to with the 'stolen' vehicle; likewise if it is stolen by a theft.
Use Case #2 - Suitcase(s)I have intended to place AirTag into suitcases we have in the household but it is currently not intended to be a permanent placement (still looking for better AirTag holder but found a relatively cheap one which allows removal while able to stick and semi-conceal it within suitcases. As such, I have spare AirTags sitting at home cabinet only to be taken out and place into the suitcase(s) whenever someone is to travel. But with the new 8-24 hours anti-stalking measures, we will have to either remove/unpair these AirTags from our iPhones only to pair up before our travel(s) and place into the suitcase(s), or we have to somewhat remember to place our iPhones near to the cabinet where the spare AirTags are stored every 8-24 hours.
There are some other use-cases which I am exploring as PoC but may never become practical to use given how some of the 'operating parameters' of AirTags are going to be. Gonna rethink about my 2nd purchase of 4 AirTags (still in cart) now given the limited use-cases.