What Parents and Families Need to Know About AirTag Misuse
Smart devices are designed to make life easier, yet some of them introduce risks that many people never imagine. Apple’s AirTag is one of those products. Originally created to help you locate misplaced items like keys or luggage, it has also become a tool criminals exploit—quietly, cheaply, and with shocking simplicity.
For parents, caregivers, and everyday consumers in South Africa, understanding how these coin-sized trackers work and how they can be repurposed for harm is an essential part of digital personal safety.
Why AirTags Present a Growing Risk
AirTags are tiny, silent, and able to “piggyback” on almost any nearby Apple device to update their location. They don’t need their own internet connection, and they blend seamlessly into pockets, bags or vehicles.
This massive network of Apple devices worldwide creates an extremely powerful tracking system. When used properly, it’s brilliant. When abused, it allows someone else to monitor your movements without your knowledge.
Parents might worry about their child’s safety, but adults themselves are increasingly targeted—often because criminals want to know when someone is alone, distracted, travelling, or far from home.
How Criminals Misuse AirTags
The methods are varied, but the pattern is the same: invisibility, proximity and routine.
1. Tracking your movements
Someone could slip an AirTag into a handbag, a coat pocket, a school backpack, or under a car seat. Once hidden, it quietly updates your location every time another Apple device passes by. This can reveal where you live, where you work and your daily habits—information that can be used for stalking, vehicle theft or break-ins.
2. Monitoring when you are away
If someone knows you leave home at a certain time or are away for long stretches, it may enable opportunistic crime. The device helps them map patterns before acting.
3. Setting up scams
Location information can make social-engineering attacks far more convincing. Criminals may reference places you recently visited or create urgent messages designed to appear personalised, increasing the chance you fall for them.
4. Targeting vulnerable individuals
People travelling alone, tourists, and those in crowded public areas are common targets because it is easy for a tiny device to be planted without detection.
Signs You Might Be Tracked
Most people never think to check for trackers, so criminals rely on surprise. Still, there are clues:
- iPhone users may receive an alert stating that an unknown tracker appears to be moving with them.
- Android users can manually scan for nearby trackers using Apple’s “Tracker Detect” app.
- AirTags separated from their owner for long enough may emit a faint sound to attract attention.
These safeguards are helpful, but not guaranteed. Alerts can be delayed, unheard or overlooked.
What to Do If You Find a Suspicious Device
If you receive an alert or discover a tracker in your belongings, act cautiously and prioritise your safety.
- Do not go home immediately. Go to a public, well-lit space or, if possible, directly to a police station.
- Use your phone to make the device play a sound to help you locate it.
- Disable the tracker by opening the casing and removing the battery. This stops it from broadcasting.
- Take photos and screenshots of alerts, where it was found, and any unusual behaviour.
- Report the incident to the police and provide the device’s serial number.
Never assume it was a mistake. Treat any unknown tracker as a potential safety threat.
Why This Matters in South Africa
The South African environment adds layers of vulnerability:
- Many people rely on public transport, where devices can be slipped into bags unnoticed.
- Vehicle theft syndicates may plant trackers to follow high-value cars.
- Families and children in shopping centres, taxi ranks or busy urban areas are easy targets due to crowds and distractions.
- Criminals increasingly blend technology with human manipulation, making location-based scams more convincing than ever.
Awareness is your strongest defence.
How to Stay Safe
These simple habits offer robust protection:
- Keep device alerts enabled and pay attention to unusual notifications.
- Check pockets, bags and vehicles regularly, especially after travelling.
- Use scanning apps periodically, particularly if you sense something is wrong.
- Teach older children and teens what a tracker looks like and what to do if they find one.
- Act immediately if you believe someone is monitoring you.
Digital-age danger is not always online. Sometimes it is physical, small enough to fit on your keychain, and easy to overlook.
Final Thoughts
AirTags and similar trackers aren’t going away. They are useful products that millions rely on daily. But their convenience comes with responsibility. Protecting your personal space means staying alert to the technology around you and recognising how it can be turned against you.
By combining awareness, quick action and good digital hygiene, families can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to tracking-based crime.