In the skin of information. What you need to know about Apple’s AirTags, the misuse of which can spy on people

This is one of the latest innovations from the Apple brand: the AirTag is the “all found accessory to find everything”, it seems. A kind of small tracker that allows you to locate your objects wherever they are, and for only 35 euros. A technology therefore intended for those who have the annoying tendency of no longer knowing where they left their keys lying around. A big market in perspective therefore.

>> AirTags: Can Apple’s tags for finding lost items be used to spy on someone?

But it is not without risk of embezzlement, for better or for worse… A few days ago, a Mexican journalist explained that she had succeeded in flushing out a scandal of embezzlement of food donations, after slipping an AirTag in a packet of rice. Recently, the mayor of New York claimed to want to distribute hundreds of these trackers to the inhabitants of the city to fight against car thefts. And then there are the clever little ones who now slip them into their suitcase during a trip to avoid the famous lost luggage. But the AirTag is more and more often used with a much less noble objective, and even downright illegal: espionage.

“Cyberviolence”

Thus, several women have claimed in France in recent days that trackers had been slipped into their handbags without their knowledge. In the United States, a few weeks ago, it was singer Alison Carney who revealed that her ex had also placed this object in her bag to follow her actions.

And although Apple says it has features in place to prevent “unwanted” tracking, prosecutors in New York and Pennsylvania recently issued warning notices for consumers, including female victims of violence and harassment, main targets of would-be deranged trackers. In France, some law enforcement officials also denounce on social networks a “perfect example of the misuse of digital technology for the purpose of cyberviolence”. Not to mention, of course, the environmental cost of these little technology-packed battery-powered tracers. And to think that it would be enough just to make a little effort to try to remember where you put your keys…