Two tech giants join hands to prevent AirTag from being exploited for malicious purposes

Although AirTag was produced to track easily lost targets, it has also been exploited for malicious purposes, such as tracking other people.

The two companies are working together to prevent airtags from being misused for malicious purposes. — Although the AirTag personal locator device is very convenient, it can easily be exploited for bad purposes. Illustration photo.

Apple and Google are now looking to change that by proposing an industry standard to “help combat the misuse of Bluetooth location tracking devices for unwanted user tracking.” Several other tech companies including Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security and Pebblebee have also announced their support for the move.

The proposal raises a number of issues, including instructing Bluetooth tracking device manufacturers on how to implement "detection and warning of illegal tracking behavior" on both iOS and Android platforms.

The two companies have submitted their submissions to the IETF (the standards development organization). Over a 90-day period, interested parties will review the documents and consider the details of the standard.

“Apple launched AirTag to give people peace of mind knowing where their most important items are. We built AirTag and the Find My network with a set of proactive features to prevent unwanted tracking for the first time in the industry, and we continue to make improvements to help ensure the technology is used as intended,” said Ron Huang, Apple’s vice president of Sensors and Connectivity.

“This new industry specification builds on the protections of AirTag and through collaboration with Google, results in a significant step forward in combating unwanted tracking on iOS and Android,” he added.

Appearing since 2021, AirTag has been updated by the manufacturer with a number of features to prevent users from being tracked illegally.

For example, the update makes the device emit an audible sound after the AirTag is separated from its owner. There are also apps on Android that support AirTag detection and tracking devices compatible with the Find My network.

It is expected that in the near future, at the Google I/O event, the technology giant Google will provide more details on efforts to develop features to combat tracking activities as well as detect devices serving this purpose.

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