Ahmedabad woman stalked using AirTag, said to be first such case in country

In what could be country's first case of stalking with Apple's AirTag, the Ahmedabad cyber cell has registered an FIR against a person for stalking a woman using the small size coin Bluetooth enabled device, whose purpose was to help in locating valuables and gadgets.

The AirTag was used by the complainant woman's alleged harasser to stalk her locations and even phone call records. Police said that the FIR has been registered against the person, who is reported to be an ex-partner of the woman, under section 354 D (stalking) of Indian Penal Code and and 66E (violation of bodily privacy) of Information and Technology Act.

According to the complainant, for the first time in May, she found an ominous notification alert on her iPhone 13 Pro Max, which read, "AirTag Found Moving With You". Days later, while she was driving to her office from home a similar message appeared. On August 29 again on her way to office she received similar alerts. On one occasion, her driver clicked on the notification after which another message displayed, which said, "Your location can be seen by the owner of this AirTag."

The complainant, who is into real estate, suspected that her movement was being tracked. She told Cyber Cell officials earlier in July that her driver and daughter also received similar alerts on their phones. Suspecting that someone was stalking her, she went to the car service station to locate the device. Police said that the AirTag was found glued under the seat cover behind the driver's seat.

The Cyber Cell source said that the suspected stalker has been identified. They said that the man is her former partner who has been harassing her for several months. "This is perhaps the first case of stalking a woman using an AirTag in India," an officer told DH.

Launched in 2021, Apple's AirTag has become controversial abroad with numerous cases of people abusing the device for stalking. It is reported to have become a "favourite tool for abusers." In 2022, Apple issued a public statement on its website which stated, "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. Unwanted tracking has long been a societal problem, and we took this concern seriously in the design of AirTag."