BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston police are investigating after a young woman said she was being tracked through an Apple AirTag.
Francesca Nardelli said she got a strange notification on her iPhone last Friday morning after a night out in South Boston that said an AirTag was moving with her and her location was being tracked by its owner.
“I was like immediately in panic mode,” she said. “Anybody could’ve put something on our stuff and started tracking us.”
Unsure of what to do next, Nardelli called the police who checked her car and her purse but came up empty.
“Everywhere that I’ve been, everywhere that I’m going is just being watched, so I didn’t feel safe going anywhere,” she said.
This is a dangerous trend that Apple says it is aware of. Earlier this year the tech company released a statement promising to make changes to the AirTag product to keep people safe.
“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,” the statement read.
Cybersecurity expert Kevin Powers said AirTags — which are meant to be used as tracking devices for personal belongings — can be very dangerous in a criminal’s hands.
“They’re taking their AirTag and stalking people with them,” he explained. “Technology is great but there’s a lot of risk with it.”
As of right now, Apple users get a notification somewhere between eight and 24 hours after an unknown AirTag has been traveling with them. For Android users, they have to use a separate app to scan for the AirTags.
Another local woman, who spoke to 7NEWS off-camera, said she was not notified for several hours that she was being tracked by an unknown AirTag. She said she went to pick up some food and brought it home, all with the device somewhere on her.
“To this day, I don’t know where it was,” the woman said. “If it’s still on me somewhere, I have no idea.”
Meanwhile, Nardelli is working with police to try and find the person who is tracking her. She said she is sharing her story as a warning to others.
“This is my personal nightmare. I’m so terrified of people violating my personal privacy like that,” she said.
Investigators say two of these types cases are open and under investigation at this time.
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