Edited by: Sharya Sharma
Last updated: February 25, 2023, 11:10 AM IST
Apple has issued an official statement on the stalking issue. (Image: Apple)
Police in Memphis, US, have arrested a man for tracking his ex-wife’s vehicle using Apple AirTag. In response to the stalking issue, Apple issued a statement.
As great as Apple AirTag is, a lot of reports have come in lately suggesting that people have been using the coin-sized trackers over and over again for malicious purposes, including stalking, and this time is the latest misuse incident of Apple’s AirTag again by a stalker. Police in Memphis, US, have arrested a man for tracking his ex-wife’s vehicle using Apple AirTag.
According to a report from AppleInsider, the circumstances of this case are particularly troubling, as the accused allegedly placed roses on his ex-wife’s car after using an AirTag to locate the car.
Later, his ex-wife discovered the tracking device and Atkins has admitted to placing it, stating that he only intended to track their children’s whereabouts.
Apple issued an official statement regarding stalking, and a company representative confirmed, “AirTag was created to help individuals find their personal belongings and not to monitor individuals or their property. We strongly condemn any malicious use of our products.”
Apple further added, “Unwanted tracking has long been a social concern and we have taken this concern seriously in the design of AirTag.” And: “that is why the Find my network is built with privacy in mind, uses end-to-end encryption, which is why we innovated with the first-ever proactive system to alert you to unwanted tracking.”
“We hope this starts an industry trend for others to include these types of proactive alerts in their products,” said an Apple spokesperson.
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