Apple AirTags connected to cases of stalking, car theft

Sold for just US$29, AirTags are just over an inch in diameter and can be slipped into backpacks or on key rings. Then, users can track an AirTag's location on the ‘Find My’ app often used for friends and family to share locations with each other. — Dreamstime/TNS

DETROIT: Authorities say Apple AirTags, marketed as a way to keep track of easily-lost belongings, are increasingly connected to cases of stalking and car theft.

“The basic utility of them is to track objects or persons, and so it makes sense that someone would use it for nefarious purposes to that end,” said Tom Holt, cybersecurity expert and professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University.