How to check if you are being tracked by a strange AirTag

Recently, the number of incidents has increased.

Loss prevention tags using Bluetooth, such as Apple's "AirTag" and Samsung's "SmartTags". But did you know that these can be stalked to track others? Let's introduce " How to prevent tracking by loss prevention tag " explained by Gizmodo.

The loss prevention tag can be attached to a backpack or luggage as a key chain, put in a bag to send a warning when that luggage leave or to track the last confirmed location on the map. It is an item for.

Loss prevention tags sold by Apple and Tile do not have a built-in GPS, so you cannot always display your location. However, by reporting that it is lost, you can use the search function anonymously via other smartphones.

Abuse using AirTag etc. is due to this tracking function. The loss prevention tag will soon be out of the Bluetooth range of your smartphone, but you will be able to receive location information reports from other users. This is useful if you lose your belongings, but it can be a problem if you put the loss prevention tag in your luggage without your knowledge.

With AirTag, nearly a billion devices are built into the "find" network, so you can locate your target fairly accurately. Competitors' networks are smaller and require the installation of dedicated apps, but the risks still remain. Therefore, manufacturers of anti-loss tags have various means to prevent such misuse.

How to find malicious AirTag

AirTag has built-in stalking protection from the beginning, and an alert will be displayed on your iPhone when AirTag is moving with you away from the owner.

In addition, according to Apple, AirTag will sound an alert if it is away from its owner for a long time (up to 24 hours). However, it is difficult to hear the alert sound when it is hidden in a car, and it takes a long time for the alert sound to be emitted.

In iOS 15.2 Beta, an option called "Trackable Items" has been added to the "Items" tab of the Find My iPhone. When I tapped this option, I saw an AirTag away from the owner ... but for some reason, the feature disappeared from the final beta. Here, I would like to wait for the official implementation of the function.

Furthermore, for Android, an application " Tracker Detect " that can manually search for malicious AirTag has been released. Tap Scan on the app's home screen to start scanning for loss prevention tags. Then, AirTags away from the owner and loss prevention tags corresponding to "Search" are listed and an alert sound can be sounded.

If you actually find an AirTag you don't know, hold your iPhone or NFC-enabled Android smartphone over it and tap the notification that appears to see details such as its serial number and whether it's lost.

There are also tools such as " LightBlue " and " BLE Scanner " for iPhone, and " BLE Scanner " and " Bluetooth Scanner " for Android that scan the surroundings to find loss prevention tags with weak signals. However, it's difficult to tell which manufacturer's product is nearby (for example, AirTag changes its Bluetooth ID regularly to protect privacy) and can be distinguished from a properly used loss prevention tag. It may not be there.

How to find unwanted Tile and Samsung loss prevention tags

Tile, the largest Bluetooth tracker other than AirTag, will implement the stalking countermeasure function "Scan and Secure" from 2022. This is a feature built into the Tile app for Android and iOS that makes it easier to find a nearby Tile device. According to Tile, the app allows you to scan nearby devices even if you don't have a Tile account.

Samsung's SmartTag has updated its genuine apps for Android and iOS this year with the addition of a "search for unknown tags" feature. This feature allows you to scan for unregistered loss protection tags that are being moved with you.

But here is the problem. To scan for tracking by loss prevention tags from different manufacturers, you need to download different apps. What's more, none of the apps automatically scan the tracker. There may be problems with battery consumption, but this is not a hassle. Also, as mentioned above, it is difficult to distinguish between the loss prevention tags detected by the app.

A more analog approach is to make sure that the loss prevention tag is not hidden in your bag, coat pocket, car seat, etc. At this time, there is no efficient way to find malicious loss prevention tags, but I just hope that the methods presented here will help prevent stalking.