Montana Brown was in Los Angeles when she received a notification that an AirTag was tracking her location. She emptied her luggage in the airport restrooms, located the AirTag – a little Apple device that generally pairs with a mobile phone to track objects such as keys – and flushed it.
The 27-year-old former Love Island contestant claims she did not give it much thought at the time.
“It wasn’t until I returned home and told a few of my friends that I realized how frightening it was,” she tells BBC Newsbeat.
My pals were of the opinion that I should make a bigger deal out of this because it could happen to anyone.
‘Penny dropped’
On March 4, Montana was on her way to an awards event when she discovered the AirTag.
She shared her experience on social media and remarked that “the sheer volume of comments and messages” made her realize “this is certainly something that occurs frequently.”
“This is certainly a tool that people are employing to track people, including possible ladies traveling alone.”
“That was a bit of an epiphany. I was simply grateful that I discovered it and was able to dispose of it.”
As soon as AirTags were introduced, there were allegations of people using them to trace ex-partners.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, a nonprofit that operates The National Stalking Hotline, told Newsbeat that calls involving AirTags and similar devices have increased.
Apple states that it condemns the harmful use of its devices in the “strongest terms conceivable” and has released fixes to address stalking.
Montana, meanwhile, was “very astonished… I had never heard of this occurring to anybody.”
Montana did not report discovering the AirTag to the authorities; by the time she realized she could have, she had destroyed the evidence.
She believes there should be a greater knowledge of what to do when someone believes they are being followed.
Because none of us know what to do in these circumstances. “You know to dial 999 if you witness an accident,” she explains.
Tallulah Belassie-Page from The Suzy Lamplugh Trust states that the organization is receiving more calls regarding device tracking.
“We have received multiple complaints of AirTags being used to track victims, with victims as young as elementary school age receiving alerts that they are wearing an AirTag.
Apple designed them to help you keep track of items like your keys and wallet, but we know that in the wrong hands, they may be used for stalking.
What to do if a suspicious gadget is discovered
Tallulah advises that you should always notify the police, retain the device as evidence, and get screenshots of any alarms.
Also, she advises:
“Do not visit your residence.”
“If you receive these notifications, we recommend that you contact the National Stalking Helpline.”
Even if you haven’t received a notification, you can check your phone’s list of linked devices to see if any AirTags have been connected to your device.
If you have an Android phone, Tracker Detect is useful software for detecting unauthorized gadgets. Then, you can remove them so they cannot track you.
Since introducing AirTags, Apple says it has implemented a number of changes in response to concerns about stalking.
This contains privacy warnings during setup that remind users that tracking individuals without their agreement is illegal in many countries.
It also claims to have included a Precision Locating feature, which makes it easier to detect AirTags, and the ability to play a sound from an unknown device.
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