HARTFORD, Conn. — Tracking lost items has become easier with the use of new technology like the Apple AirTag. You can find your missing keys, wallet, purse or whatever it’s attached to in just seconds, with a simple press of a button on your phone.
However, with the solution to one problem came the advent of another. Instead of using the AirTag to track items, some are using them to track people.
All over the country, including in Connecticut, people are reporting they’re being tracked.
“Are we safe? Like, are we going to be safe?” asked a woman who wants to go by “Claudia” after she got a notification on her iPhone that an unknown AirTag was seen traveling with her.
“I could see on the map in the Find My app that it had tracked or followed me,” she said.
“Claudia” does not own an AirTag.
Posts about unknown AirTags on people’s property are flooding social media.
“I started freaking out,” said Leah Dollison, who lives in Lubbock, Texas and received a similar notification. “The message specifically said this AirTag was seen traveling with you.”
A body shop found an AirTag hidden underneath her car.
“There was, like, a long red line going to Idalou and then coming back, and that was me dropping off my children,” she said.
Naugatuck police recently arrested Wilfred Gonzalez for hiding an AirTag in his ex’s car. The victim, who was concerned that he was tracking her, already had a protective order against him.
“Basically he was able to track wherever that tag is going so by placing it in her vehicle he was able to see exactly where she went and how long she was there,” Naugatuck police officer Danielle Dyrette said.
Gonzalez was arrested and charged with violation of a protective order, breach of peace and stalking.
It’s the stalking that has Mary Jane Foster from Interval House especially concerned.
“Stalking along with strangulation are one of the two leading indicators of homicide,” said Foster. “If someone is stalking you, you are in danger!”
Foster said they are hearing about this type of stalking more and more at their domestic violence shelter.
“This AirTag situation is really, really threatening in the sense that they're small and not noticeable,” she said.
With the development of technology, the state’s stalking law has had to evolve but is still fairly new.
“It'll be interesting to see how the prosecution applies this relatively new law to a relatively new electronic phenomenon,” attorney Frank Riccio said.
The Bridgeport attorney has heard of these types of AirTag stalking cases happening in major cities all across the country and believes it will only be a matter of time before they happen in every town or city.
Tech expert Lon Seidman said he saw the potential for this type of problem when Apple first released the product.
He said the scary reality is, it could happen to anyone.
People who receive a notification that an AirTag or an unknown accessory is seen traveling with them, should not ignore it.
“If you get a notification that says an AirTag is following you—that AirTag has been in the vicinity of your device for a while,” Seidman said.
Then, drive to the nearest police station – do not go home. If someone is secretly tracking you, you don’t want to be alone and you don’t want the person tracking you to follow you home.
Next, if you have an iPhone, it should give you an option to play a sound on the AirTag that will alert you to where it is.
If you find an AirTag, you can simply twist off the stop and remove the battery to disable it, which will immediately stop its tracking capabilities.
If you have an Android, you will not automatically get a notification. So, you may want to download an app that can detect Bluetooth devices like AirTags.
“Different companies have different versions of these things and I think a standard for that will let people know that a tag is following you around, it would also deter people from using these things for nefarious purposes,” Seidman said.
For a full list of step-by-step instructions from Apple on what to do if you get a notification that you are being tracked, click here.
Erika Arias is an anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at Earias@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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