Apple plans to upgrade the AirTag smart tracker and the Find My app. The company claims that this will help reduce the risk of unwanted surveillance of people and their property.
AirTag is a gadget with a smart tag for tracking things (keys, wallet, backpack, etc.) in the Apple ecosystem. It works through the Locator application, with which you can find your item on the map if you first attach AirTag to it.
Almost immediately after the start of sales of the device in April 2021, there were reports that the tags were used for illegal purposes. For example, in Canada, cases have been recorded when car thieves secretly attached the device to cars, followed their routes and calculated the optimal place and time for theft.
Apple emphasizes that AirTag tracking other people without their consent is a crime. Therefore, the company has developed a “proactive system that warns of unwanted tracking.” In the new iOS update, Apple will change the algorithms for warning smartphone owners that someone else’s AirTag is nearby. In case of suspicion, information about the owner of someone else’s label will be transferred to law enforcement agencies.
Apple has announced the following new features: determining the exact location of someone else’s AirTag; displaying notifications with sound about the movement of someone else’s AirTag with you; increase the volume of the sound signal that a foreign AirTag emits when it is searched for.
Apple does not specify the timing of the release of updates.
Read more about AirTag in the publication “Kommersant FM” “Apple Tracker”.