Apple's AirTag lets you track down misplaced items, but needs better privacy safeguards

May 20—My wife and I lose our keys a lot. They are invariably nearby — but ransacking our surroundings can take minutes or hours as our blood pressure spikes.

Technology has the solution in the form of small devices that can be tracked using familiar Bluetooth technology. Add these fobs to your keychain and other belongings, and you are less likely to lose them.

These doohickies have been available for a while from the likes of Chipolo, Tile and Trackr, yet my wife and I have never looked into them. But I've lately been trying out an alternative, Apple's AirTag.

These lozenge-like gadgets work much like their competitors, but have an edge in being tightly integrated into Apple's ecosystem. This makes locating keys or other belongings easier, assuming you use an iPhone or iPad — Android users need not apply.

AirTags are powerful and versatile in allowing you to track down belongings that are inside your house or halfway around the planet, as I will explain in a bit.

At the same time, AirTag raises privacy concerns. Apple has attempted to build in safeguards to keep AirTags from being misused — as a nefarious tool for stalking someone without that person's knowledge, say — but the company still has work to do in this department.

I was able to stalk my wife — with her full knowledge in a testing capacity — easily. That's concerning, and points to the need for AirTag improvements.

AIRTAG IS APPLE-EASY

Apple is famed for making tech devices that are easy to use, and that interact with each other seamlessly. AirTag is no exception.

Setup is a breeze. When you pull a plastic tab from an AirTag to activate its battery, a nearby iPhone instantly detects it. You're prompted to give it a name, assign it an emoji, and register it with your Apple ID.

Your AirTag is ready to use! Unfortunately, unlike other trackers, it does not have a hole for threading through a lanyard or keychain ring. You'll have to invest in an AirTag holder — Apple has a bunch of these, and others are available, or will soon be, from the likes of Belkin, Caseology, Moment, Nomad and Spigen.

Tracking down an AirTag occurs in a couple of ways — in short-range fashion, if it is near you, and long-range, if it's across town or even in another state or country. Regardless, the AirTag's last known location appears on a map in Apple's Find My app on your iPhone or iPad.

If you are looking for an AirTag inside your house and within Bluetooth range, fire up Find My, pick the Items category at the bottom, and pick out your AirTag from a list (if you use several of the trackers).

You then have the option to make the AirTag chirp loudly so you can home in on it, or to use your iPhone as a tracking device. The latter only works with newer Apple devices, precisely guiding you with a combination of vibrations, visual prompts and visual cues to your misplaced item.

If you are searching for an AirTag that is farther away, and out of Bluetooth range, Apple's so-called Find My network comes into play. This refers to the vast number of Apple mobile devices being used around the world — approaching a billion, by Apple's estimation.

Let's say you are back from a vacation and just realized you left behind an AirTag on a keychain or tucked into a bag. Open the Find My app and you have a good chance of seeing where the AirTag is. That is because any passing Apple mobile device on the Find My network will anonymously relay the AirTag location to you.

If you don't see your item right away, it's possible it will pop up on the Find My network later. If so, you'll get an alert.

Regardless, you can then put the AirTag in "Lost Mode." If someone stumbles on it, they can use their iPhone or Android phone to see information about it via a technology called Near Field Communication. That information can include a phone number and a brief message, if you wish, along with the AirTag's serial number. A lost AirTag that is not put into Lost Mode only reveals its serial number if scanned via NFC.

SOME PRIVACY HOLES

As I noted, an AirTag can potentially be used for evil purposes such as stalking. It is easy to slip the tiny gizmo into someone's backpack or purse without that person's knowledge in order to remotely monitor his or her whereabouts.

Apple, well aware of this sinister scenario, has attempted to build in safeguards. If someone else's AirTag mysteriously finds its way into your handbag or messenger bag, your iPhone will notice the device is traveling with you and send you an alert that will appear on your phone screen. After a while, if you are still oblivious to the AirTag, it will start chirping to let you know it's there.

This sounds pretty good, but my experiments while play-stalking my wife made me realize how easily I could foil Apple's safeguards.

I gave her an AirTag to place on her key ring and marveled at how readily I could track her movements as she ran errands. That's because nearby Apple gizmos on the Find My network relayed the AirTag's location to me.

This tracking is less real-time than monitoring the whereabouts of her iPhone via its cellular network — I have permission to do so, and she has my permission to track my phone — but it's pretty close in urban locations like St. Paul with lots of Apple devices around.

Apple's anti-stalking safeguards were of little use to my wife. She never got those screen alerts because her iPhone is older and incompatible with that technology. She'd have the same problem if she used an Android handset. Even if she had an up-to-date iPhone, she'd be vulnerable if I were able to grab her device when she wasn't looking to turn off that warning-alert capability (no passcode or password required).

She also never got those warning beeps. The AirTag I gave her wouldn't start making that sound unless it was beyond the range of its paired device — my iPhone — for three days. But since my wife comes back into my vicinity several times a day, the beeping never occurred. This has ominous implications: Imagine a control-freak-y spouse or lover who behaves pleasantly in the evening but turns into a predator the rest of the time.

There is another obvious way to foil that chirping safeguard: An AirTag can be physically muffled so the sound isn't audible. This would be helpful for a stalker if his or her quarry is on a trip, or lives across town or in another city. That muffling might not even be necessary since the AirTag's beeping after three days only occurs for 15 seconds every few hours — and isn't super loud, in any case.

How can potential stalking victims protect themselves? Macworld.com contributor Glenn Fleishman notes, "You probably know already if you're a candidate for involuntary tracking: someone in your life (or formerly so) or a family member may show up at unexpected times in unexpected places when they have no reason to know you're there. They may comment in person, via email, or otherwise about your activities or whereabouts. Or you're in the middle of or long past a nasty break-up of a relationship or marriage, or have broken off contact with a parent or family members."

If so, Glenn details the precautions such people can take with AirTag's capabilities in mind. These include using a Bluetooth-scanning device, checking obvious places where an AirTag could be stashed, and removing an iPhone from the Find My network.

Meanwhile, Apple is surely aware of AirTag's security issues and working to beef up up privacy. Conveniently, features can be added or modified via software updates. The company might, for instance, set up that security chirping to go off sooner than three days.

And it's worth noting that Apple has put more thought into privacy measures than other makers of tracking fobs.

SHOULD YOU GET AIRTAG?

AirTags, put to their intended uses, work wonderfully and are godsends for people like me who are absentminded and are constantly losing stuff.

They look to work essentially forever, furthermore, since their batteries are replaceable (unlike other trackers with integrated batteries that have to be entirely replaced).

AirTags cost $29 apiece and can be purchased in $99 four-packs. Engraving (including emoji) is available for free.

But keep in mind who can and cannot use AirTags. For Apple users, they require an iPhone running iOS 14.5 or later, or an iPad running iPadOS 14.5 later. Those with iPhones too old to run that software (like my wife's iPhone 5s) are out of luck. So are those using other kinds of phones, such as Android handsets.

Note AirTag alternatives:

— Chipolo trackers include the ONE Spot, which also integrates with Apple's Find My network.

— Tile trackers, still arguably the most popular and prevalent, come in all shapes and sizes, including a card format that easily ships into a wallet. Tile has teamed up with Amazon to integrate into the latter company's soon-to-be launched Sidewalk device network (similar to Find My).

— Trackr trackers are another well-known alternative.

— Galaxy SmartTags work only with Samsung Galaxy phones.

— SmartThings trackers, also from Samsung, use cellular networks instead of Bluetooth and require monthly service fees. Cellular tracking means they can track misplaced belongings over great distances, similar to how AirTags work though with a different technology.