You've Been Tagged

APPLE’S NEW $29 AIRTAG is a little button you can place anywhere and locate again via an app, thanks to a unique Bluetooth identifier. The range is about 30–300 feet. If your airbag is more comprehensively lost, you can put it into Lost Mode, and anybody pinging your little friend sees a message from you, and contact details, so you still might get your keys back. The battery lasts about a year, but it’s a regular CR2032 and easy to change (so not the usual Apple nightmare). The Bluetooth IDs and phone locations are all uploaded to Apple’s servers, but it’s all encrypted and anonymous.

So, what’s the problem? Firstly, it makes covert tracking very easy and cheap. Secrete an AirTag somewhere, and the millions of Apple devices will co-operate in the surveillance, while you watch your target wander around a map on the app. Apple sets a limit of three days on how long an unknown AirTag can sit within range of you before it warns you of its existence. Long enough to gather considerable information. Once warned, you can find the AirTag, and remove the battery if you are concerned. If your “victim” doesn’t have an iPhone, there is no warning, of course. Soon after AirTag’s release, the experiments started, as people covertly tracked each other, parcels in the mail, and cars. It proved worryingly easy.

The chips inside the AirTag aren’t hard to reprogram either. Lost Mode can be diverted to the URL of your choice, turning the AirTag into a booby-trap to malicious websites. Apple prides itself on its approach to privacy, and AirTag is a good idea if used properly. However, Apple has released a cheap, mass-produced, passive, anonymous tracking device, which will be misused.