In Ahmedabad, a woman filed a FIR alleging that her ex-partner tracked her with an Apple AirTag. After a thorough investigation by the car service center, the woman was astounded to discover Apple AirTag hidden inside her driver’s seat cover.
Is Apple truly effective and successful in terms of privacy protection? Despite the lack of specific evidence, individuals simply believe what they are told.
A city lady said she was stalked for three months using an Apple AirTag device, and the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Police filed a FIR in response on Friday.
This is supposedly the first stalking instance employing the disputed AirTag to be reported in the country, according to authorities. Apple AirTags are small Bluetooth trackers that help you find misplaced items.
They send out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be picked up by nearby ‘Find My Network’ devices.
“We have identified the stalker and will soon arrest him. This could perhaps be the first case registered in the country of stalking using AirTag,” stated Ajit Rajyan, ACP, Cyber Crime, Ahmedabad.
The suspected stalker, according to the police, is the complainant’s ex-partner, who has been bothering her for several months. Between May and July, the suspect followed the woman.
The person watching her even used the AirTag to track her calls and movements. The police used Section 66E of the Information and Technology Act and Section 354 D of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to bring cases against this person for invading people’s privacy.
Also read: Founder of ChatGPT is being sued by OpenAI for allegedly stealing “private data”
The complainant, a woman from Ahmedabad, initially discovered odd texts on her iPhone in May, which is when the mystery surrounding this case really began to take shape.
These notifications, with words like “AirTag Found Moving With You,” made her nervous.
A few days later, as she was walking from her house to her office, she received a similar message. Messages similar to this one arrived on her driver’s and children’s iPhones as well. In August, she received another warning while driving to work. When her driver finally chose the message, it stated, “Your location can be seen by the owner of this AirTag.”
The woman felt compelled to act now that she was aware she was being followed. As a result, the woman notified Cyber Cell personnel and proceeded to her car’s service center to look for the device.
The Apple AirTag was discovered tucked beneath the driver’s seat cover, much to her surprise.
Similar cases have been reported not just Ahmedabad but all across the world
Cases involving AirTag have also received international attention. As a result of reports of misuse and privacy concerns, authorities and citizens have been forced to address the device’s shortcomings. In some countries, there have been numerous complaints of unwanted tracking, harassment, and invasions of privacy, sparking arguments about how to use technology responsibly and the need for safeguards against such misuse.
In related news, police in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, arrested a man earlier this year after he used an Apple AirTag to track his ex-wife’s car. When his ex-wife discovered the monitoring device, the stalker (ex-husband) claimed that he was only using it to keep track of their children’s whereabouts.
Apple’s Reaction To The Unfortunate Events
Concerning stalking, Apple issued a public statement, and a company executive stated, “AirTag was created to aid individuals in finding their personal possessions and not to monitor individuals or their property. We strongly denounce any malevolent application of our products.”
