How to know if you’re being stalked with an AirTag
Apple AirTags are an undoubtedly nifty product: quarter-size Bluetooth tracking devices that you can stick on an iPhone or set of keys. But like with so many tech innovations, there’s that pesky human element to deal with—namely, that AirTags can be used by a stalker to find where you live, work, and go. There have been several cases recently in both the U.S. and the U.K. of people claiming they’d been unwittingly tracked by AirTags.
Here’s how to find out if you are being tracked with an AirTag or similar device—and what to do if you are.
Check your iPhone
Often, the first indication that you are being stalked comes via your iPhone. If you use iOS 14.5 or later, your iPhone will continually listen for nearby AirTags. That’s part of why AirTags work so well: This information is sent to Apple’s servers to help recover a lost item.
But if someone puts an AirTag in your pocket without your knowledge, your iPhone will notice. If that AirTag sticks around when you move, your iPhone will show an alert that reads “AirTag Found Moving With You.” If you click on the alert, it will show you where it was detected and where it has moved with you.
Unfortunately, the location where the AirTag was detected usually isn’t the same as where it was hidden initially, as it takes a few hours for your iPhone to notice that an AirTag is sticking with you as you move.
Check with an Android phone
If you have an Android phone, you can check to see if there is an AirTag near you with the Apple TrackerDetect app. This app should run on most Android devices and scans the area around you for nearby AirTags. However, this works only when the app is running and actively scanning, and you won’t get alerts if an AirTag is hidden near you.
If you are concerned about being tracked, an app called AirGuard does much of what iPhones do, but on your Android phone: It will run in the background and scan for AirTags (and Tile trackers), then notify you if one is detected multiple times. The open-source app is written by a security lab at a German university.
Listen for the beep
Apple updated AirTags last year to beep at a random interval between 8 and 24 hours after moving away from their linked iPhone. This beep is quite insistent, rather like a smoke alarm battery. So if you hear such a beep, it is time to search.
Unfortunately, it is also fairly easy for someone to remove the speaker from an AirTag. These silenced AirTags are also available on eBay and in other places, so if you are concerned, run a scan with your iPhone or Android phone.
Find and disable the tracker
AirTags and similar devices are small enough to be slipped into a pocket or bag without you noticing. So it’s a good idea to check all the pockets of your clothes, your handbag, and the lining of coats and jackets for the coin-size device.
If you have an iPhone, one option when you get an alert of an AirTag moving with you is to make it ping via the built-in beep function, making it easier to find. Just follow the noise until you locate it.
The AirTag might be attached to your car if you get an alert while driving. Check around the wheel arches, behind the bumpers, and on the car’s underside. Look for anything out of place: The AirTag might be in a holder to protect it, such as the Elevation Lab TagVault. If you think someone may have had access to the inside of the car, check under the seats, in the gaps between seat cushions, and under floor mats.
The Precision Finding feature on iPhones can also be very useful here, as it tells you how far away and in which direction the AirTag is. Select it from the FindMy app, and move the phone around to help it find the AirTag.
Now, what should you do if you find a hidden AirTag? It may have gotten into your pocket by accident if it is attached to a set of keys or something. If it is on its own and has been concealed in your car or your clothes, it may have been put there by someone with less-than-good intentions.
AirTags are designed to show a web page with the owner’s details by tapping them against your iPhone. I don’t recommend this if you are concerned about how it got there. Although it is unlikely, hackers have shown that it is possible to change the web address that the AirTag will go to, which could be used to install spyware. That isn’t a trivial hack, but it is possible.
Instead, you should disable the device. And the best way to do this is to remove the battery.
Put on a pair of latex gloves if you have them, then pick up the AirTag and hold it with the steel cover with the Apple logo facing you. Using your fingers, twist this cover counterclockwise until it clicks, then lift your fingers. The steel cover will pop off, and the battery, a silver cylinder the size of a dime, is right underneath. Remove the battery, and the AirTag is disabled.
Without the battery, the AirTag can’t track you and won’t send any more information to anyone. It won’t warn anyone that it has been disabled; it will simply stop sending a signal.
Keep the tag and battery, then call the police. If you are concerned for your safety, call 911 and go somewhere safe.
Using an AirTag to track someone without their consent is a crime, and the police may be able to track the person who used the tag with the serial number, by getting the owner info from Apple, or through fingerprints on the tag or battery (which is why I suggested gloves above).
Is Apple to blame?
Apple advertises the AirTag as “a supereasy way to keep track of your stuff . . . the Find My network—hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices around the world—helps track down your AirTag.” The AirTag works because it sends an identifying signal to Apple’s servers through this network when it gets near an iPhone. That is how you can find a set of lost keys with an AirTag even if it isn’t anywhere near you, and how people have used an AirTag to track mail sent to Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and North Korea. (Spoiler: The North Korea one didn’t make it.)
That, unfortunately, also makes it ideal for a stalker to use: The network has no idea what the AirTag is being used for, and loads of people have an iPhone that forwards this signal.
However, Apple is aware of the problem and has made changes to how AirTags work to make them less suitable for unwanted tracking. Now they beep when they are away from their owner, and an iPhone will notify you if it sees an unknown AirTag near you for several hours. They also keep the information stored when you set up an AirTag so that the original owner is easier for the police to find.
We all have a right to live safely and peacefully, and technology can make that easier. It can, unfortunately, also make it easier for someone who exerts power and control to track someone, or for a stranger to compromise your safety. There are people who can help, though, and technology can be used to help and protect you as well. It isn’t the technology that is at fault here: It is the person who misuses it.
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