Share the QR code < / P > < p > with wechat scanning code to friends and circles of friends < / P > < p > < / P > < p > on April 7. According to the U.S. police records, apple airtag is used to track women all over the United States. Many reports show that many tracking, harassment and even abuse incidents involve Apple's tracker airtag < p > as early as Apple released airtag, some security experts predicted that this technology might be used by criminals as a tool to track and harass women. The media applied to dozens of the largest police stations in the United States to provide police records about airtags in the past eight months, and obtained 150 records involving airtags from eight U.S. police stations < p > of the 150 records, 50 were from female clients. They initially received a mobile phone notification showing that their personal whereabouts were tracked by airtag, which did not belong to them. Among these people, 25 strongly suspected that their husbands, ex boyfriends and even former bosses had installed airtag in their cars for tracking and harassment. The women reported that current and former employees were using airtag to track and harass them < p > in a report, a woman reported to the police that the man who had been harassing her had placed an airtag in her car. The report showed that the police said the man threatened to let her live a hell like life < p > most alarms involve harassment by their predecessors. A woman called the police and said her ex boyfriend cut a car tire and left an airtag in the car for surveillance. In another police report, a woman said she found her car loaded with airtag many times and knew it was her ex boyfriend because she had appeared in the same place at the same time < p > in another police report, a woman said that every time she left home, she would find something beeping in the car. As a result, an airtag was found in the car. Finally, through repeated questioning, one of her ex boyfriends admitted that she put airtag in the car to see if she "lied" < p > the reason why these women called the police was that they found that their predecessors could be found inexplicably at different times and places. A woman found that her predecessor had been following her and once pushed her to a desperate situation. The woman drove the car to the repairman and found an airtag in the car < p > several women who reported to the police said they were afraid of physical violence. A woman called the police because she had a protection order prohibiting a man from calling to harass her. She received the notice of airtag tracking. She could also hear the constant ringing in her car, but she couldn't find it. When the police arrived, she answered a phone call from the man in front of the police, saying how she would be physically injured. Another woman who found airtag in the car kept thinking about how a man always knows where he is. The report said she feared being attacked or injured < p > a woman reported to the police station that she had been notified of airtags nearby for several weeks and found that multiple airtags were installed on the chassis of the car. She suspected that this was the behavior of the person who was very cruel to her before. Now he will appear wherever she goes < p > not all cases involve predecessors. In some cases, some incumbents will also use airtags to track and alarm women, and even physical violence < p > the vast majority of alarms come from women. Of the 150 police records, only one caller was a man who suspected his ex girlfriend of tracking him with airtag < p > of the 50 police records referring to airtag, less than half involved robbery or theft. For example, someone put an airtag in his wallet, or tied it to a bicycle or car, and then these things were stolen and robbed. Several people's mobile phones received airtag notification, but they were nowhere to be found; Some of the records also mentioned that the alarm people said they had heard of the potential danger of airtag. One of them said she didn't know who did it, but she called the police after receiving notice about airtag < p > airtag always has a notification function. If airtag appears near iPhone users, they will receive a reminder; However, people who don't use iPhone or apple devices will never know that airtag exists < p > EVA Galperin, director of cyber security at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said, "it's totally absurd to launch a new device without considering the scene of domestic violence." "But specifically, the blind spots of Apple devices are those who live outside the apple ecosystem." < p > for many years, the victim has used the tracking software installed on his / her mobile phone. Airtag is different in that it has been widely publicized by the world's largest consumer technology company. It costs only $29 and is inconspicuous in a car or bag < p > "there were various tracking software before airtag, but apple made it easier and cheaper for abusers and attackers to track targets than ever before," said Albert fox Cahn, executive director of the surveillance technology overshight project. "Apple's worldwide device network enables airtag to be tracked around the world. And Apple's large-scale marketing activities make airtag known to trackers and abusers who didn't know this technology." < p > reports that some people have been tracked by airtag have attracted the attention of the American public. Last December, a woman found an airtag on the car and suspected that someone wanted to steal the car. In January, a Philadelphia woman said someone used airtag to track her from a distance. In the same month, police in Dearborn, Michigan, said they found an increase in the number of people calling the police because they received airtag notifications, but the police said that some of them may only have received notifications of nearby airtags, which are not actually aimed at them < p > so far, most reports on airtag in the real world have focused on car theft tools, and there are few stories of airtag involving domestic violence. But police records show that many abusers have used it as a tool to control women < p > airtag is far from the only physical location tracker in the market. Any tracker can be used for malicious purposes. But the problem is that in recent years, all kinds of products on the mass market have become more convenient and easy to use. Tier, a tracker company similar to airtags, announced last month that it would add a new anti tracking function to its applications < p > Mary, a non-profit organization Women's advocate family violence community educator·According to Mary Beth Becker Lauth, location tracking is "as old as GPS technology itself". However, from the past situation, this requires certain professional and technical knowledge. "Until recently, the abusers or stalkers behind women who sought help either worked in the information technology department or were proficient in the corresponding technology," she said < p > users can directly tie the airtag to the bottom of the car or insert it into their wallet, which is more convenient for abusers. Apple's product concept of "as long as it works" also makes airtag very attractive, but it has been used in bad aspects in some cases < p > Becker rouse said: "in fact, most women who found airtag know who placed it." "Nearly three-quarters of victims know stalkers, and the most common relationship between victims and stalkers is current or former. So these women can immediately find someone and say, 'it sounds like something he'll do'." < p > in response to a request for comment, apple mentioned the recently released airtag security update: "the purpose of airtag is to help people locate their personal belongings, not track others or their property. We condemn any malicious use of our products in the strongest terms," the relevant blog post wrote. "For a long time, unnecessary tracking has been a social problem, which we have seriously considered when designing airtag. That's why we consider personal privacy and use end-to-end encryption when establishing the search network; why we have innovated the active tracking system for the first time to remind users whether there is unnecessary tracking." < p > Apple also released instructions on what to do if it found airtag tracking itself. But domestic violence experts say it can be dangerous to disable their tracking function in the face of current or former abusers < p > perhaps more telling is that Apple's response to security issues is to passively repair existing technologies. Apple released an android app last December to inform users whether there are airtags nearby. But users must understand and install the application and then allow it to run in the background, but many people don't follow this step. In June 2021, three months after airtag was released, apple shortened the window time for audible reminder after airtag was separated from its owner; It was initially three days, but later Apple changed it to eight to 24 hours. Ideally, this will alert the tracked person that they have an airtag nearby. In February, Apple announced more security features, including displaying warning messages in settings, saying it was a crime to track others without consent, and turning up the volume of airtag < p > galpalin said that the emergence of so many reports involving airtag tracking also means that Apple's security measures are working as planned. "This is not to say that someone accidentally found airtag. The anti tracking measures implemented by Apple finally worked. As a result, a small number of people called the police." She said. "So we knew from the beginning that this would be a big problem. But I think it also reflects the fact that tracking itself is the main problem. Turning on airtag alarm actually allows victims to provide conclusive evidence to the police, which they sometimes don't have." < p > some experts say apple has not done enough. "It's too little and too late," Strauss Kahn said "These gimmicks have little effect on preventing the abuse of airtag. They usually only notify when the location of the person concerned has been tracked. There is no technical way to prevent the abuse of airtag. As long as apple continues to sell such a cheap tracking device that is easy to hide, trackers will continue to use it. The only solution is to stop selling and supporting airtag. This product is too dangerous to stay In the market. " < p > Becker rouse said: "I hope Apple will be more proactive in solving problems before the release of this product, so as to reduce the risk of bad molecules." "But to be honest, no tracking technology is completely safe." < p > if people are not going to stop using these devices for harassment, it may still be up to the device manufacturer to figure out how to make the device safer. Last week, it was reported that Google was developing new features for the security settings of Android devices, including "unfamiliar device reminder" and "unfamiliar tag notification detected" < p > galpalin believes that equipment manufacturers need to formulate industry unified safety standards. "What I look forward to most is to see the manufacturers of physical trackers form a unified standard that can be implemented in the system, so that people can always find out whether there is a tracker running behind the back no matter what model of mobile phone they use," galpalin said. "I think this is the only reasonable and effective way to alleviate the current situation." < p > if someone reports to the police that they have been followed or harassed, they should have better ways to protect themselves from the abuser. In these police records, when a woman reported the presence of a stalker, the police officer in charge of the investigation either provided them with a Domestic Violence Hotline or advised them to apply for a protection order. Some policemen wrote that they had heard of airtag being used to steal things before, but some policemen didn't seem to know what airtag was or how to disable it < p > Kahn said: "the police usually don't know how to deal with airtag, but even if they know, this is not the final solution." "We can't get rid of airtag by arresting stalkers. In many jurisdictions, it's not clear whether using airtag is a crime. Even if it's a crime, arresting suspects directly is a bad solution." < p > each state has different laws prohibiting tracking the location of others, either as part of the tracking law or simply requiring that vehicles should not be tracked without the consent of the owner < p > Becker Routh said, "at the very least, we should take these women's experiences seriously, because when they tell the police or domestic violence assistance agencies that they are being followed, they are actually saying that their lives are in danger." (P) < / P > >