While human beings are surely the smartest species to ever walk the earth, we do suffer from our fair share of limitations. Now, these limitations aren’t always visible to the eye, but when they are on the surface, they can easily drag us towards some hugely detrimental scenarios, thus calling for us to be a little more guarded. We’ll make it possible by bringing dedicated regulatory bodies into the fold. The move paid off big time, as soon enough, our entire spectrum was functioning within a sense of safety that it never had before. Unfortunately, the feeling did not last, and to be honest, it was all technology’s fault. You see, despite being so ingenious, technology ended up giving what was a perfect security blanket to all the rule breakers. This expectantly transitioned into a reality that was skewed and disorganized in every conceivable manner. However, credit to the regulatory community, we are now putting-together a major fight back, and a recently-introduced bill should only help our cause moving forward.
A group of bipartisan lawmakers in Ohio has officially introduced a bill to criminalize AirTag stalking. It all started after news outlet, 3News presented a sensational report about how the state’s law was poorly positioned in terms of dealing with the stated issue. Delving into a loophole in particular, the report pointed out that, as per the Ohio law, any person with no history of stalking or domestic violence could literally track others, while facing no consequences at all. If approved, though, the bill is going to change that by strictly prohibiting “a person from knowingly installing a tracking device or application on another’s property without the other person’s consent.” Going back to the 3News report for a second, it also focused a little bit on the sheer scale of this problem. According to the records picked up from around a dozen US police departments, the cases involving AirTag stalking are already deep into hundreds. The problem is accentuated once you realize that many of the states don’t even have clear-cut laws against electronic tracking.
As for Apple’s response to the growing concern, the tech giant has reassured everyone by revealing its plans to make AirTag experience a lot safer. For instance, Apple will add a precision finding feature that will enable all iPhone 11, 12, and 13 users in terms of locating an unknown AirTag. The feature is going to inform you about direction, as well as distance between you and the tag. Apart from it, Apple will also update its unwanted tracking alerts to notify people of potential stalkers.
“AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person’s property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products,” the company stated back in February. “We design our products to provide a great experience, but also with safety and privacy in mind. Across Apple’s hardware, software, and services teams, we’re committed to listening to feedback.”