Against car theft: US police give away AirTags
Apple's trackers can be used to find objects – more frequently, even stolen ones. In America, law enforcement officers now want to be helped by this.
AirTag on the key ring, car: Apple's "Where is?" trackers are not actually intended as theft protection.
(Image: Ugis Riba/Shutterstock.com)
A police department in Colorado has started issuing Apple AirTags to vehicle owners. The law enforcement officers from the town of Arvada, which has a population of 125,000, want to take better action against the increasing number of car thefts, reports CBS Colorado.
Apple does not see AirTags as anti-theft protection
It is well known that Apple trackers with Bluetooth and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) have already been used to solve various thefts in the USA and elsewhere. Some tricky people also use them to play detective themselves. However, Apple itself is only partly happy with this. The company markets AirTags for locating objects via its “Where is?” network, not as theft protection. This can be seen from the fact that the devices are being equipped with increasingly stringent anti-stalking measures that warn not only potential victims of stalking, but also thieves.
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The police in Arvada launched their first “giveaway event” on the weekend, where AirTags including stickers (“This car can be tracked by the police if it is stolen!”) were distributed. The campaign also started because there had been a few successful searches with the trackers in the past. The CBS Colorado video shows that, in addition to AirTags, competing products from the provider Tile are also being distributed, but these use a smaller network than “Where is?” and are therefore more difficult to find. In contrast to AirTags, however, Tile has also integrated a special theft mode.
Airlines support AirTags
Apple has not yet entered into an official cooperation with law enforcement agencies for the reasons mentioned above. However, the company recently launched a collaboration with numerous airlines to help locate luggage with an integrated AirTag.
Apple is currently preparing the availability of a second generation of the popular tracker. It could be released before the end of this year and is said to offer greater tracking accuracy and better transmission performance. A new UWB chip, which is already in the iPhone, will help. The AirTags have been on the market unchanged since 2021, but are regularly updated with new firmware.
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