Unlike other trackers, the AirTag utilizes Apple's extensive Find My network. With a network of over a billion Apple devices, it is possible to pinpoint the precise location of an AirTag after linking it to your Apple ID.

This is great for finding your keys, but with its small, thin size, long bombardment life, and ease of apply, it is also incredibly like shooting fish in a barrel for stalkers to sideslip an AirTag into a glaze pocket or handbag when you're non paying attention and use information technology to follow you abode. That is, if you don't get the AirTag Constitute Moving With You lot bulletin start.

So, what is this bulletin, and what should you practice if you get it?

What Is the "AirTag Plant Moving With You" Message?

During its initial launch, many people wondered if the AirTag could be used for stalking. For this reason, Apple introduced additional safety features to assist safeguard unsuspecting people from stalkers. If your iPhone is running iOS 14.5 or higher, ane of these features includes an alert for if an unknown AirTag is travelling with you subsequently some time.

While this alert can be harmless if information technology only means you borrowed an item from a friend or family member with an AirTag attached, information technology can also be a sign that someone has used an AirTag to rail your movement. If you're wondering what to do if an alert like this pops upward, keep reading.

What to Practice If Y'all Go the "AirTag Found Moving With Y'all" Message

Here are all the steps that you should have in one case yous get notified that an unknown AirTag has been travelling with you without your consent.

Locate the Physical AirTag

The first affair you should do when you lot get the notification is to search for the concrete AirTag. To do this, tap on the alert and press Continue. And then, select Play Sound to locate it.

The AirTag safety alert on iPhone
Prototype credit: Apple tree

In some cases, finding the AirTag can reveal that it is simply among borrowed items from friends or family members and should not crusade any business concern. If this is the case, tap the option to disable "AirTag Detected" notifications for your preferred length of fourth dimension.

Similarly, if the AirTag is endemic by someone in your Family Sharing group, you can disable Detail Condom Alerts. To accomplish this, go to your Find My app on your iPhone or iPad. On the lower-right role of the screen, tap Me. Side by side, toggle off the switch adjacent to Item Safety Alerts and tap Disable.

If y'all do find an AirTag that yous don't recognize, it'southward best to check for more than than one. If the intent is really to stalk you, the doubtable may hide multiple AirTags in instance you lot detect the showtime i.

Stay in a Public Place

two-women-looking-up-at-many-security-cameras

When you realize that you lot are being tracked, it's best to throw off a potential stalker by going to a public infinite. If possible, avert going home, entering a personal vehicle with an identifiable plate number, or going to your place of work. In addition, it'south expert to avert posting your state of affairs or location on social media until the threat is resolved.

While y'all are trying to remember of the next steps, it'southward all-time to stay within proximity of safe spaces. For instance, some of the mutual areas that always have security personnel and 24/vii cameras are hotel lobbies and banks. During this fourth dimension, exist vigilant of anyone following y'all or trying to speak with you lot.

Browse the AirTag for the Series Number and Lost Condition

Side by side, find additional data about the unknown AirTag travelling with you lot. To accomplish this, tap the notification and select Learn About This AirTag.

Bated from its serial number, an unknown AirTag could too be marked as a lost. Once an AirTag is marked as lost, it will bear witness its owner's contact details. If you know the owner of the AirTag, yous can contact them and allow them know that their missing AirTag is in your care.

Comport in mind that just because an AirTag is marked equally lost, information technology doesn't eliminate the possibility of stalking. In fact, information technology could exist a way for a potential stalker to attain your phone number. For this reason, avoid contacting the owner of a lost AirTag with your personal number if yous don't know them personally.

Lastly, if you lot practise concord to render a lost AirTag to an unknown owner, it is best to avoid coming together them in person. Alternatively, yous tin can only go out the AirTag to be picked upwardly through customer service or lost and establish booths located in malls, hotels, or other public places.

Disable the AirTag

If the AirTag is not marked as lost, it is best to disable its tracking mechanisms as shortly every bit possible. To disable an AirTag, remove its battery past pressing downward on the bombardment cover and rotating information technology counter-clockwise until it tin can no longer be rotated. And then, remove the cover and the battery.

The speaker and the rest of the internals of the AirTag from a teardown
Paradigm credit: Brandon Geekabit via YouTube

While information technology can be tempting to throw abroad an unknown AirTag correct away, disabling information technology allows yous to turn over the AirTag to the appropriate authorities for the farther investigation.

Alert the Authorities

When possible, file a report of the unknown AirTag travelling with you through the appropriate channels. Upon doing and then, don't forget to include details such equally when you get-go realized you lot had an unknown AirTag on y'all, the places y'all have been to recently, and the series number.

Avert against possible stalkers by yourself. If possible, ask for the help of the appropriate authorities and don't betrayal yourself more than necessary.

The Problem With AirTag Alerts

While the AirTag alert is useful, it's non without its fair share of flaws. Considering the AirTag utilizes changing Bluetooth identifiers, information technology is possible the many features designed for privacy tin can inhibit its safety features for stalking.

For example, if an AirTag warning is left alone overnight, features such as Play Sound will not exist able to work. This is because the unique Bluetooth identifier of the unknown AirTag may have already changed within that timespan.

In addition, the timer for notifications also resets when the AirTag is within proximity of a device with the aforementioned Apple ID. Then if a prospective stalker managed to stay close enough to you, you're likely not going to get a notification right away.

Lastly, while Apple users take more options in terms of AirTag anti-stalking features, Android users take fewer options. Until the official Android app arrives, there's very petty protection for non-Apple users who will only be notified within 8 to 24 hours that an unknown AirTag is following them.

Thankfully, Apple is business firm that the AirTag is designed to work on objects and non people. With this, we tin can count on the fact that it'due south continuously working on means to prevent stalking using AirTags. However, it's never a bad thing to exist a piddling more vigilant, especially when it comes to your personal safety.

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