
They focus on protecting company servers and databases or protecting consumers from cyber-viruses.
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“I’ve sat in rooms with social media companies and software developers and their security concerns are always around hackers and encryption. “All these features need to be designed into the product pre-release,” he says. That just doesn’t exist in tech – and it’s a real gap. You don’t launch a car and fix the seatbelts months down the line – and that’s because there are strict laws and regulations, safety standards and testing. “That doesn’t happen in any other industry. “The approach is: ‘Launch it, get it into the world, get it to market, monetise it and we can solve problems later,’” he says. To Rory Innes, founder of the Cyber Helpline, these safety updates serve to illustrate the problem. That doesn’t happen in any other industry Rory Innes, Cyber Helpline The approach is: ‘Launch it, monetise it and we can solve problems later. Apple has been working to make the chime louder – it can be especially difficult to hear on a busy street or when hidden under a car – and to make the AirTag easier to find after you have received an alert. Initially the chime sounded after three days, but subsequently this was shortened to a random time between eight and 24 hours. The AirTag also emits a warning chime after a while to alert anyone close by of its presence.
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So in December 2021, eight months after AirTags were launched, Apple released Tracker Detect, an app that will alert you on an Android device – so long as you’re sufficiently informed and far-sighted to install the app and keep it active. That alert system only works if the stalking victim has an iPhone, however. It adds that it works with police when there have been incidents, and stresses that misuse of AirTags is rare. Four hours later, in what she described as “the scariest moment ever”, Nader was walking home alone when she received a notification that she was being tracked.Īpple has stressed that the company takes the issue of stalking very seriously, which is why it designed the alert system that appears on your iPhone if an AirTag not registered to you is seen moving with you over time. Someone slipped an AirTag into her coat pocket when she was in a New York restaurant. Sports Illustrated model Brook Nader shared a similar experience on Instagram. She was in the car park at 2am, about to drive home, when she received a notification that someone had been tracking her for two hours. In June, the Irish actor Hannah Rose May tweeted a warning after an AirTag was planted on her person during an after-hours event at Disneyland, California. In most cases seen by Refuge and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, the victims have a clear idea of who planted the device – usually current or former partners – but this is not always the case. It was only when her daughter also began getting notifications that the tag was found. Although she had received notifications about the device on her phone, she had no idea what they meant and initially ignored them. This month at Swansea crown court, Christopher Paul Trotman, 41, pleaded guilty to stalking his ex-girlfriend by gluing an AirTag under her car bumper.

The Apple AirTag is about the size of a 10p piece. “People see them, think about tracking more, and the concept of tracking becomes more established. “I saw AirTags for sale in my local supermarket,” says Emma Pickering, senior operations manager for tech abuse at the domestic abuse charity Refuge. While a mind-boggling range of spyware is available on eBay or Amazon, the Apple brand is ubiquitous, part of everyday life. It doesn’t require any technical skill whatsoever and it is relatively cheap to buy. “It’s so small, it’s unnoticeable and very user-friendly.


“We’re finding it’s quite an issue,” says Violet Alvarez from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which supports stalking victims.
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The AirTag was launched in April last year – a wireless, Bluetooth device designed to keep track of items such as keys, purses, cars or anything else at risk of being lost or stolen.

She had recently separated from her partner, but he had spent the previous day with their young son – and had transferred his child seat from his car to the back seat of Laura’s when he had dropped him back. To Laura, it was obvious how it got there.
