Technology @beehaw.org Five @slrpnk.net 5 mo. ago

A Suspected Human Smuggler Used AirTags to Track and Control The Woman He Brought Into the U.S.

www.404media.co A Suspected Human Smuggler Used AirTags to Track and Control The Woman He Brought Into the U.S.

A man allegedly involved in a Russia-based smuggling operation is accused of placing at least seven AirTags on his ex-wife's car to surveil her.

11 comments

…placing at least seven AirTags on his ex-wife's car to surveil her.

Assuming the tags weren’t checking in with an owning device (iPhone) that car would’ve been beeping up a storm.

I recently lent a set of work keys to a colleague that I forgot had an AirTag on them, in their words: “fucking things beeped all weekend and my phone kept telling me I’m being followed!”
- You would need a phone that can detect that stuff in the first place. Maybe she didn't.
  
  Unfortunately, yes. iPhones will check passively and Android phones can get an app but you have to check actively. Hopefully Apple and Google work on a solution for active detection on Android devices.
- Is there a way to temporarily disable tracking for circumstances such as this when you loan your keys or something?
  
  I suppose not, or people would disable it and then re-enable it later, unless they require proximity or some other protection against that.
  
  Not that I’m aware of, for the reasons you mentioned. I believe you can now share AirTag locations with family members and that’ll count towards ‘checking in’ and not beep but nothing for sharing with someone outside of family members.
And the woman probably had an iPhone herself and therefore literally gave him her position all the time herself. How nice of her.
- Do you mean how nice of Apple? How the hell did you turn this around to be the victim's fault?
  
  A more charitable reading might detect irony in that comment. Their intent might not have been victim-blaming.
I'm an android guy, so not too familiar with them. Though Google just launched their tag network and I have some pebblebee tags on the way, so hopefully they have some useful features like temporary sharing.

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