AirTag can be used for tracking
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2025 3:56 am
Apple’s AirTag has only been on the market for a short time, but it’s already gained a bad reputation for being a way to facilitate criminal activity and track people without the user’s permission. In this article, we take a closer look at how it works and why it can be dangerous. We’ll also share tips for protecting yourself from AirTag tracking and other types of cyberbullying.
How Airtag works
Apple launched the AirTag in April 2021 as a slovenia mobile database that helps you find commonly lost items. Inside the AirTag is a board with a wireless module, along with a replaceable battery and a speaker that is actually quite large, and which is actually the bulk of the device.
Here’s how AirTag works in a simple, everyday scenario: You use it as a keychain, and if you’re running late for work one day and can’t find your keys at home, you can turn on the find mode on your iPhone. Using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, your phone will prompt AirTag with a series of helpful prompts, like “is it hot” or “is it cold.”
In a more complex scenario, imagine that you put an AirTag in your backpack and one day you get off the subway so quickly that you accidentally leave it behind. Since you and your iPhone are already far away from the backpack when you realize you’ve lost it, UWB technology won’t help you. Now, anyone with a relatively recent Apple device (iPhone 7 and later) can get in on the action. Using Bluetooth, these devices detect nearby AirTags and transmit approximate or specific coordinates to your Apple account. Now you can use Find My iPhone to track where your backpack has ended up, such as at the lost and found office or with a new owner. The key is that this all happens automatically; you don’t even need to install anything. Everything the AirTag tracking system needs to work is already built into the iOS of hundreds of millions of users.
But since Bluetooth has a maximum range of just a few dozen meters, this only works in big cities where there are a lot of people with iPhones. If your backpack ends up in a small town where everyone uses Android smartphones (or even the latest phones with buttons that barely connect to the Internet), it will be a challenge to find the AirTag’s location. In this case, a third detection mechanism kicks in: if a few hours pass and the AirTag has not been connected to any iPhone, the built-in speaker starts playing a sound. If the person who finds the lost item figures out how to connect their NFC-enabled smartphone to the AirTag, the AirTag will tell them the phone number of the item’s owner.
How Airtag works
Apple launched the AirTag in April 2021 as a slovenia mobile database that helps you find commonly lost items. Inside the AirTag is a board with a wireless module, along with a replaceable battery and a speaker that is actually quite large, and which is actually the bulk of the device.
Here’s how AirTag works in a simple, everyday scenario: You use it as a keychain, and if you’re running late for work one day and can’t find your keys at home, you can turn on the find mode on your iPhone. Using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, your phone will prompt AirTag with a series of helpful prompts, like “is it hot” or “is it cold.”
In a more complex scenario, imagine that you put an AirTag in your backpack and one day you get off the subway so quickly that you accidentally leave it behind. Since you and your iPhone are already far away from the backpack when you realize you’ve lost it, UWB technology won’t help you. Now, anyone with a relatively recent Apple device (iPhone 7 and later) can get in on the action. Using Bluetooth, these devices detect nearby AirTags and transmit approximate or specific coordinates to your Apple account. Now you can use Find My iPhone to track where your backpack has ended up, such as at the lost and found office or with a new owner. The key is that this all happens automatically; you don’t even need to install anything. Everything the AirTag tracking system needs to work is already built into the iOS of hundreds of millions of users.
But since Bluetooth has a maximum range of just a few dozen meters, this only works in big cities where there are a lot of people with iPhones. If your backpack ends up in a small town where everyone uses Android smartphones (or even the latest phones with buttons that barely connect to the Internet), it will be a challenge to find the AirTag’s location. In this case, a third detection mechanism kicks in: if a few hours pass and the AirTag has not been connected to any iPhone, the built-in speaker starts playing a sound. If the person who finds the lost item figures out how to connect their NFC-enabled smartphone to the AirTag, the AirTag will tell them the phone number of the item’s owner.