Though personal item trackers have been on the market for years, Apple’s AirTag is rising to the top of this niche. Due to its ease of setup and its use of Apple’s global ‘Find My’ network, a rapidly increasing number of people are using the device to track valuable items, like lost wallets or even stolen bikes.
Here Are Some Quick AirTag Specs
- It’s a roughly half-dollar sized, round, flattish device to attach to personal belongings –such as keys, wallet, backpack – to help keep track of them and locate if lost (or possibly stolen).
- It’s used with Apple’s ‘Find My’ app.
- It has a built-in speaker that plays a sound to help with finding it when pinged.
- AirTags are tied to an Apple ID, which are associated with the owner’s email address and phone number.
- It uses nearby devices within Apple’s ‘Find My’ network to broadcast its location back to its owner.
- It’s $29 as of the writing of this article.
Safety Concerns
Just like most technology that was created to enhance human life, the AirTag’s helpful intent has been co-opted by those with criminal motives. Increasingly, stories are headlining the news of people being tracked by strangers using AirTags.
Sports Illustrated model, Brooks Nader, found an AirTag in her coat pocket after it had been tracking her for 5 hours. AirTags are also now being used to steal luxury cars by tracking vehicles to their owners’ homes to then be stolen from driveways. There is also growing concern that criminals will use AirTags to track elderly people they see out and about during the day and break into their residences at night.
How to Find a Rogue AirTag
Apple has created an automatic safety alert that pops up on your iPhone after your phone notices that an AirTag that is not registered to you and not within Bluetooth range of its owner has been moving with you for a while.
To enable your iPhone to receive this notification, make sure:
- Your phone has Bluetooth turned on
- Your iPhone is running iOS 14.5 or later
- Significant Locations is turned on
- Apple has not specified what ‘a while’ means regarding how long a planted AirTag has been traveling with you before you’re alerted. However, most people who received the safety alert reported getting the alert once they were close to or had arrived home.
- To make sure Significant Locations is turned on, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations and make sure it’s toggled on.
Find the AirTag by tapping the safety alert, which opens the ‘Find My’ app, then tap Continue then Play Sound to hear the AirTag beep.
If for some reason you don’t automatically receive the safety alert, you might (depending on how good your hearing is) hear the AirTag beep 8 to 24 hours after being away from its owner.
For Android phones, there is no automatic safety alert. Instead, users can download Apple’s free ‘Tracker Detect’ app from the Google Play store and actively scan for any unknown AirTags. After scanning for at least 10 minutes and discovering a rogue AirTag with the app, select the option to make the AirTag play a sound so you can locate it.
What to Do Once You’ve Found a Rogue AirTag
Once you’ve located the unknown AirTag, hold your phone’s NFC reader to the white side of the tag. A notification should appear on your phone that when opened displays the AirTag’s serial number. This serial number is tied to the AirTag’s owner, so take a screenshot of it and write it down.
Now disable the AirTag’s tracking capability by removing its battery, which is located underneath the silver side of the tag with the Apple logo. The AirTag’s serial number is also located underneath the battery in case you weren’t able to get the NFC-triggered notification to pop up.
Take the tag to your local police department and file a police report. Be sure to include the AirTag’s serial number you collected earlier. Encourage the officer or detective you work with to submit a request to Apple for information on the AirTag’s owner (according to Apple’s guidelines outlined here: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/law-enforcement-guidelines-us.pdf).
According to Apple,
“With a serial number, Apple may be able to provide the paired account details in response to a subpoena or greater legal process. AirTag pairing history is available for a period up to 25 days.”
It’s important to identify the person who planted this AirTag on you before they stalk another person, so time is of the essence!
How to Proactively Check for Planted AirTags
Maybe you don’t want to wait until you receive a safety alert on your iPhone or hear the AirTag make its presence known after several hours. Instead, you can use the ‘Find My’ app to scan your car, bag, or any other place you think someone might have planted an AirTag.
To scan for any unknown AirTags using ‘Find My,’ open the app and tap Items, then scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap Identify Found Item. Scan around your belongings as the app searches for nearby unregistered AirTags. If one is found, follow the app’s onscreen instructions.
Again, Android users can search for AirTags using the ‘Tracker Detect’ app. Aside from this app and ‘Find My,’ there are several Bluetooth scanner apps you can use to add further peace of mind.
For iPhone, a few of these free apps are:
For Android, some free Bluetooth scanner apps are:
We hope this information helps you stay safe!
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