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Apple to add warning to AirTag tracking devices, suspected in crimes

AirTags are designed to help recover lost wallets and keys. Law enforcement officials have reported them being used in car thefts and stalking cases.
Apple said a new warning would appear during the setup process for each AirTag. 
Apple said a new warning would appear during the setup process for each AirTag. Apple

Apple said Thursday it would add a warning to its AirTag tracking devices to try to counter people using them to commit crimes. 

The warning is part of a series of safety changes that Apple said it was planning in response to reports from law enforcement that AirTags have been found in car thefts and stalking cases.

Apple said a new warning would appear during the setup process for each AirTag stating that tracking people without their consent is a crime in many places; that AirTags are designed to be detected by potential victims; and that law enforcement can request from Apple the identifying information about the owner of an AirTag. 

Each AirTag has a serial number and is linked to an Apple account. 

Apple said in a statement that “information we provided has been used to trace an AirTag back to the perpetrator, who was then apprehended and charged.” The company has not said how many requests for information it has received from law enforcement. 

“Based on our knowledge and on discussions with law enforcement, incidents of AirTag misuse are rare; however, each instance is one too many,” Apple said in its statement

NBC News reported in December about a growing number of claims of misuse of the homing beacons, which Apple began selling last year as a way for people to recover lost wallets, backpacks or other personal items. 

AirTags already have some safety features built in, such as sending a pop-up notification to a phone if there’s an unfamiliar AirTag traveling with them. On social media apps such as TikTok, accounts of people who suspected they were being stalked after finding an AirTag or receiving an AirTag alert have received millions of views. 

In another change, Apple said it would be more specific in some of the notifications it sends to people on their phones. In cases where a set of AirPods is traveling with a person, the company has been using the notification “Unknown Accessory Detected” — a phrase that some people have interpreted to mean AirTags. Now, those notifications will say AirPods, the company said. 

Future updates will include software that can find an unwanted AirTag with greater precision, Apple said.