She used an AirTag to bait thieves. It worked!

Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies were called for a report of mail theft. This was not the first time the woman's box was hit.

She decided to take matters into her own hands and mailed herself a package containing an Apple AirTag, a tracking device that can be used to help people find their personal items through a Bluetooth signal. 

Her mail was stolen Aug. 19, according to the Sheriff’s Office, including the package with the tracking device. The woman showed deputies that she was able to track the package to the 600 block of East Sunrise Drive in Santa Maria. Deputies found the woman’s mail, including the package with the AirTag along with items that were probably stolen from more than a dozen additional victims, according to the Sheriff’s Office. more

Tracking Devices Stymie Political Sign Thefts

Political candidates have a new campaign expense: Apple AirTags.

The button-size geotracking device has become a popular tool in the rough-and-tumble world of local elections, where lawn signs often end up stolen, vandalized or run over. Candidates who have grown tired of dirty tricks are hiding AirTags in their signs, leading to digital dragnets when they go missing.

Tracking the device’s pings has led to the doorsteps of alleged sign snatchers and, in some cases, candidates’ opponents. The stings have left snatchers dumbfounded. Some have faced charges of theft, criminal mischief and receiving stolen property.

“I just wanted it to stop,” John Dittmore said of why he got an AirTag after several of his campaign signs vanished over three days in May. more

• Councilman arrested for theft after rivals put tracking device on political signs

• Tracking device helps find stolen campaign signs in Brevard County

• Apple AirTag Used To Find Over 100 Stolen Democratic Campaign Signs, Police Say

AirTag Goes to Court

The District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, United States of America says a native of Tajikistan, Ibodullo Muhiddinov, is charged with the intent to injure, harass, intimidate, and place under surveillance another person, that is, S.K.

Ibodullo Muhiddinov, reportedly linked to a Russian human smuggling network, has tracked his ex-wife in the United States using the AirTag. more

AirTags: The New Go-to Tool for Cops

After a viral TikTok trend spurred tens of thousands of car thefts this summer, cops in Washington, DC, started realizing that it was much easier to recover stolen vehicles that could be tracked with Apple AirTags.

Because of this, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) rolled out a pilot program this week, doling out free tracking devices to residents in DC areas where cops are seeing "the greatest increase in vehicle theft," according to a press release from the office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. more

An Update on AirTag and Unwanted Tracking

APPLE - We’ve become aware that individuals can receive unwanted tracking alerts for benign reasons, such as when borrowing someone’s keys with an AirTag attached, or when traveling in a car with a family member’s AirPods left inside. We also have seen reports of bad actors attempting to misuse AirTag for malicious or criminal purposes.

Apple has been working closely with various safety groups and law enforcement agencies. Through our own evaluations and these discussions, we have identified even more ways we can update AirTag safety warnings and help guard against further unwanted tracking...

Advancements Coming to AirTag and the Find My Network
The following updates represent important steps Apple is taking... more

Apple Airtags - You're It

A new report today says that AirTag stalking is “frighteningly easy” thanks to a number of weaknesses in Apple’s privacy protections...

...three days is a very long time to be tracked without your knowledge if you are an Android user. Additionally, for a stranger stalker, they would be able to track you to your home address or another location you frequently visit, before you are alerted – in other words, after the damage is done...

...An AirTag starts a three-day countdown clock on its alarm as soon as it’s out of the range of the iPhone it’s paired with. Since many victims live with their abusers, the alert countdown could be reset each night when the owner of the AirTag comes back into its range...

...There’s an option in the Find My app to turn off all of these “item safety alerts” — and adjusting it doesn’t require entering your PIN or password. People in abusive situations don’t always have total control over their phones...

...The only protection for Android users is the audible alert after three days, and it’s already been shown that the speaker can be disabled... more