An African-American woman has been charged with murder after she tracked down her boyfriend using an Apple AirTag and ran him over after seeing him with another lady. Gaylyn Morris, 26, is said to have found her partner Andre Smith, also 26, at Tilly’s Pub in an Indianapolis shopping mall with the help of the AirTag gadget in the early hours of June 3, say reports.
AirTags are Bluetooth-enabled discs that report their location released in 2021 to help people find lost keys, baggage, and other possessions capable of containing or being tethered to the affordable tracking tokens. When questioned by police, Morris is said to have initially denied that she had used an AirTag to track Smith. When asked if a search warrant was served, would a tracker be found on Smith’s car, Morris then admitted placing the Apple wireless tracker in the backseat of Smith’s vehicle near a cup holder.
Activist organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have bemoaned dragnet surveillance, mobile device tracking, and warrantless GPS tracking technologies as risks to privacy. The public is especially at risk in instances when tracking isn’t done by the user, but to the user—without their knowledge or consent.
In March, a Tennessee man was arrested for allegedly trying to track his partner by attaching an Apple Watch to her car to monitor her whereabouts. Apple has since announced that it is taking steps to modify its AirTags to make them less useful for stalking and condemned the misuse of its hardware after experts and activists warned.
