Domestic abuser busted in the act of putting an AirTag on a car
A Connecticut man has been arrested after police witnessed him attempting to use Apple AirTags to track a victim's car.
As Pennsylvania works to become the first state with specific AirTag legislation, police have arrested a Connecticut resident has been charged with felonies including first-degree stalking.
According to CT Insider, 27-year-old Wilfred Gonzalez was charged on January 30, 2022 with stalking, plus violation of a protective order, and misdemeanor breach of the peace.
Local police in the town of Waterbury, say they were dispatched following a "reported domestic dispute." An investigator on the scene "discovered the accused placing a tracking device... in the victim's vehicle."
Even if the perpetrator had not been witnessed, Apple's anti-stalking prevention methods would have alerted the victim. After a period of time, the victim's iPhone would show a notification that an AirTag had been tracking them.
If the victim has an Android instead, then there wouldn't be the same on-screen notification. However, the AirTag itself begins sounding an alarm after it has been separated from its owner for a time.
The victim can then check the AirTag by holding their iPhone or Android phone with the app installed next to it. An on-screen link then takes them to an Apple site which lists the serial number of the AirTag.
When asked by authorities, Apple will report who the registered owner of that AirTag is.
Gonzalez was released on a $10,000 bond, and is next due in court on March 30.
Apple's AirTags have included anti-stalking features from the start. They have even been instrumental in preventing a car theft.
Read on AppleInsider
As Pennsylvania works to become the first state with specific AirTag legislation, police have arrested a Connecticut resident has been charged with felonies including first-degree stalking.
According to CT Insider, 27-year-old Wilfred Gonzalez was charged on January 30, 2022 with stalking, plus violation of a protective order, and misdemeanor breach of the peace.
Local police in the town of Waterbury, say they were dispatched following a "reported domestic dispute." An investigator on the scene "discovered the accused placing a tracking device... in the victim's vehicle."
Even if the perpetrator had not been witnessed, Apple's anti-stalking prevention methods would have alerted the victim. After a period of time, the victim's iPhone would show a notification that an AirTag had been tracking them.
If the victim has an Android instead, then there wouldn't be the same on-screen notification. However, the AirTag itself begins sounding an alarm after it has been separated from its owner for a time.
The victim can then check the AirTag by holding their iPhone or Android phone with the app installed next to it. An on-screen link then takes them to an Apple site which lists the serial number of the AirTag.
When asked by authorities, Apple will report who the registered owner of that AirTag is.
Gonzalez was released on a $10,000 bond, and is next due in court on March 30.
Apple's AirTags have included anti-stalking features from the start. They have even been instrumental in preventing a car theft.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Perhaps this was a big issue and Apple chose to lead by example as a way to call attention to the problem and how it could be solved with out throwing any particular manufacture under the bus?
All well and good except as any AirTag user knows, the alarm isn't very loud. If it's planted on a car or even in one, the odds of a victim hearing it could be slim to none.
I hope this guy is convinced of at least one felony, and not allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges.
Originally AirTags would start to beep 3 days after being separated from its paired iPhone. Abused as a tracking device a stalking victim might or might not hear this. If using an iPhone they'd get a Stranger AirTag Danger alert of some kind. 3 days deemed excessive, Apple has shortened that time. What isn't clear to me is if Apple sees my AirTag getting separated from my iPhone as the same or different from my iPhone alerting me that a strange AirTag is following me around. If the former 3-days is fine. In the latter an alert asap would be appreciated.
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Apple clearly hasn't figured this out yet.
2) Why aren't others being pulled?
3) What needs to be "massively redone" this year?
4) What is your concern about AirTags?
5) What have they not figured out? If an iPhone was used in a crime does that mean that the iPhone needs to be "pulled" from the market and "massively redone"? I don't think so.
That's Apple's differentiator, but also how it gets differentiated.
If you couldn't link my answer to @lkrupp to each of your five questions, I honestly don't know how I could help you!