Apple presented and put them for sale in the first months of this 2021 and their decidedly affordable price (35 euros per piece or 119 euros the package of 4) immediately made them a very popular object.But what are the Apple Airtag?These are small devices, slightly larger than a 2 euro coin, to be attached to any object with the aim of allowing us to find that object in case of loss or, more simply, when we no longer remember where we put it.Bag, car, keys, wallets, everything can be followed and tracked on the map of your iPhone.
Unfortunately, however, due to their characteristics and their function, they can also be used to trace people, without them knowing it.We have purchased and tried some and, despite many reviews released in recent weeks they reiterate that it serves to locate objects and not to follow people's movements, virtually storming people with this device is unfortunately a kids game, given the almost totalabsence of systems that somehow warn the stalking person (especially if he does not have an iPhone).But to understand how it is possible to use airtags for incorrect purposes, you must first explain how they work.
Airtag, how it works
As we said, an Airtag is a small rounded object that to work must be combined with its iPhone: attention, because it does not work with all the calls of the Apple house, but is compatible only with iPhone from model 11 up.
The initial configuration is very simple.AirTag is extracted from its packaging, removes a plastic tongue, the phone opens, making sure that the Bluetooth function is active and follow the few quick screen instructions to associate Airtag on your phone.It should be noted that only the owner of the phone can receive the data relating to the position of the Airtag associated with it.It is a noteworthy note because it already makes you understand that no other phone outside that of the owner of the Airtag will be able to learn about where this small device is located.But let's go further.
Find a parked car
At this point you just have to physically attack the Airtag to the object you want to trace.In our tests, we wanted to leave him in a car parked on the street.How did Airtag behaved?Going into the car, our iPhone (connected to the Airtag) found that he was close to his Airtag.The moment you stop the car and move away, the phone "understands" that the owner of the iPhone and Airtagsi are separating and marks the last position in which he "seen" the Airtag.Once you get to the house, it is therefore possible to open the "where" on your iPhone app, select the "Objects" tab and see on the map indicated the point where the phone and Airtag have separated: that is alsothe point where the car was parked.
From the same screen it is also possible to choose to make the Airtag play: a useful function if, for example, instead of having left it by car we attached it to the keys or we put it in a bag and we can no longer find them.It is also possible to use the "find" mode that sets the navigation path to reach the Airtag (if you are particularly distant) or start a kind of "find the treasure" mode if you are nearby.
Find objects
As we mentioned, the Airtag can also be used to find lost objects.Suppose we have put Airtag in the bag or in a backpack and, once you return home, suppose we have noticed that we no longer have it with us.Our phone is able to score the point where Airtag and telephone found each other near the other.But if for example we have lost the bag on a tram, this point will no longer correspond to the point where the bag is actually found.
Here it is worth stressing that Airtag does not contain a GPS sensor, nor is it independently able to connect to a data network.Therefore actually cannot be held in real time of its position.But to help find it, Apple uses a trick that is based on the fact that Airtag is able to communicate with the iPhones (not only with that of the owner) and there are many people who own an iPhone.So if a person has an iPhone (starting from model 11) and passes near our Airtag, his phone will detect him and signal his position.This allows the owner of that Airtag to see where he is and go to recover him.However, the thing that leaves perplexed is that this "reporting" takes place automatically and is done by the iPhone of other people without their owners knowing it.
In the hands of bad guy
It is precisely this mechanism just described that it can be used to trace the position of a person without his knowledge.Let's imagine that an attacker wants to "follow" the movements of a person: it will be enough for him to hide his Airtag somewhere in the bag or backpack of the person who wants to follow.If the "victim" has an iPhone, it will be his own phone to notice the Airtag who has been hidden in his bag and to report his position to the iphone of the attacker.At this point, to the attacker you just have to open the "where it is" on its iPhone and see where this person is located.Even if it will not be possible to follow the movement in real time, because there is a certain latency in communication, it will still be able to know if that person has been in a place where maybe he stops for some time.The problem is that the victim's iPhone will send continuous signals to the iPhone of the Airtag owner without the victim himself knowing it.
If the person to be traced does not have an iPhone, there is still the possibility of being able to follow it thanks to the iPhones of the others.In this case, the success of the tracking also depends on where the person went to: if he is in a remote, isolated place, to which no one will approach an iPhone, then you will not be able to know much.But if for example he goes to a restaurant in the center of Milan, the chances that someone else around has an iPhone and a detector face are quite high.
We also did a test by leaving the house with an Airtag in his pocket and without having any phone with us.We stopped in three places for about ten minutes each.In the first place there was no one nearby, while the second and third were very popular places, a hundred meters away from each other.No survey appeared on the Overg's owner of the Airtag when we stopped in the first place (the one without people around), while his Airtag was reported in the second place with an error of about thirty meters and in the third with aError of about fifty meters.
People traced without knowing it
In some way, the use of this type of this type has also been honored by the.In fact, after some time that a personi always finds in the vicinity of an Airtag not his, even on his phone (provided that Iphone) a notification will appear and after a few hours the Airtag should also issue a sound.If a person finds an Airtag not his, approaching him to the upper part of the iPhone you can see some information on the owner of the Airtag (for example his phone number - but enter the phone number is not mandatory and obviously those who want ituse with bad intentions will not insert it).
Apple therefore certainly has well in mind that this device lends itself to being an extra weapon in the hands of stalker and attacker (otherwise in the notification it would not have also included the instructions to "disassemble it and stop sharing the position"), however the system ofnotification to the "victim" arrives too late (when one finds the Airtag his position has already been widely shared) and above all he risks not being noticed.
Accustomed as we are, in fact, to receive dozens of notifications on our phone, it is not said that we would pay attention to such a notification and above all the notification system comes into action only if the traced person has an iPhone.If he has an Android or even has no phone with him he will never be notified but he could equally be the victim of a tracking without knowing it.
The "patch" of the last update
Apple let us know that with the latest firmware update the time after which an Airtag separated from the iPhone to which he is connected emits the sound when he is moved: from 3 days to a time that can vary from 8 to 24 hours.We take note of the improvement introduced by Apple, but also in the most rosy of hypotheses, 8 hours are still more than enough to trace a person without his knowledge.In fact, we carried out new tests on the field after updating the firmware and, as expected, we managed to trace a person without problems (with an Android mobile phone in his pocket) who moved away from home for about 2 and a half hours, to carry out one"Fake" Commission in another city.
In short, it remains an easy game for those wishing to spy on someone without their knowledge.In fact, the spy people have as the only "protection" of their privacy the fact that after a while Airtag will emit a sound.But even if it emitted it in a very short time it is not at all said that you can hear it (in a noisy environment, for example, it becomes difficult) or that you can find it (it is an object as big as a 2 euro coin).And even once found, it is not at all obvious that the victim really knows what the object he has in his hands is for.
Always Apple tells us that by the end of the year they will also put on the market an Android app that will also allow the owners of non -Apple phones to detect an unknown Air tag nearby: we will see how it will work, but already only the ideathat an Android owner must install an app on his phone to defend himself from an Apple device of which he probably ignores existence, may seem a forcing.
Reporting to the Privacy Guarantor
For these reasons we asked the Privacy Guarantor to proceed with appropriate checks on the hypothesis of violation of privacy and to possibly formulate the requirements necessary for the adaptation of the Airtag to the legislation in force in Europe (GDPR) to Apple.Otherwise we asked for Apple to be sanctioned.We will see what will happen.Do you want to stay informed?Leave your email address and we will let you know what the guarantor will decide on this story.