Newly-created tags can be named and colour co-ordinated, and will appear in their last-known location on the Find My app for Mac. The OpenHaystack tool then enables users to install firmware on Bluetooth dongles, turning them into Bluetooth beacons. Researchers at the Secure Mobile Networking Lab created the tool with the help of the Raspberry Pi-like BBC micro-bit computer and a Mac, while leveraging a plugin for Apple Mail to authenticate the user. The new OpenHaystack tool, named after the ability to find the proverbial needle, enables folks with the inclination and patience to make their own DIY AirTags. The location-tracking services built into many family cell phone plans have been used by abusers so frequently that Congress is moving forward with legislation to mitigate the threat.As the wait for Apple AirTags continues, a new open-source tool has made it possible to create Bluetooth tracking devices that exist within the Find My network. There is a long and painful history of seeing stalkers and abusers co-opt seemingly innocuous technologies. Apple should only add those users who opt in. Additionally, those of us with Apple devices shouldn’t be added to the tracking network without consent. ![]() You shouldn’t have to own an Apple device to know if you are safe from Apple’s products. The single most important step that Apple should take is to create an Android app that alerts users to nearby trackers. The billions of Android users deserve to be protected from stalking too. ![]() It’s not enough for Apple to just protect iOS users. Apple’s failure to take seriously the safety of people who exist outside of the Apple ecosystem is inexcusable. The easily muffled or circumvented beep will only go off if the AirTag has been out of range of the phone it is paired to for three consecutive days, meaning that abusers who live with survivors (which is quite common) can frequently reset the clock.Įven when abusers don’t live with survivors, that's still three free days of stalking, followed by a warning sound that may be easily missed and which is useless for the hard of hearing. Only after being separated from its owner for 72 hours will the AirTag alert people with a 60-decibel tone, about the same volume as a dishwasher or casual conversation. But if the survivor has no phone or has an Android device, they’re out of luck. While the feature is fairly inaccessible, users can get some peace of mind by going to the settings menu and looking for unfamiliar AirTags if they suspect they’re being spied on. Apple is offering the illusion of choice, of consent, but nothing more.įor people who use an iPhone, Apple has provided new software alerts to let them know about potential stalking. If you want to opt out, you must navigate a labyrinth of menu options that will prove completely inaccessible to all but the most technically proficient. Apple has more than a billion.Īpple has conscripted nearly every iOS device into its global tracking network by default. ![]() Tile measures its users in the tens of thousands. You may go all day without coming within Bluetooth range (approximately 30 feet) of a Tile user, but try getting through the day without coming within 30 feet of an iPhone or iPad. ![]() When a Tile is lost or stolen, it tries to communicate with nearby Tile users, piggybacking on their cell or Wi-Fi connection to communicate with the owner. Tiles are roughly the same weight and size as AirTags, with one key difference: the sheer size of the network. This is similar to the threat posed by other trackers like Tile, but on a far larger scale. AirTags are easy to hide in a target’s bag or car, giving an abuser an easy way to track their location. Eva Galperin ( is director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Albert Fox Cahn ( is the founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), a New York–based civil rights and privacy group, and a fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project and the Engelberg Center for Innovation Law & Policy at New York University School of Law.
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