AirTag with satellite positioning function can track the user’s luggage and items, and use Apple devices such as iPhone to help find them when they are lost. Although it has also been used maliciously, this time the US Drug Enforcement Administration successfully used AirTag to crack down on drug distribution points.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last May intercepted two packages from Shanghai, China containing a machine that compresses powder into pills, which they believe are destined for illicit drug makers.
In order to trace the whereabouts of this machine and crack down on the entire criminal chain, DEA investigators did not immediately seize the package, or directly searched the recipient’s address. They hid an Apple AirTag in the tablet press so they could track its movements.
This may be the first case of a U.S. federal agency turning Apple’s location-tracking devices into surveillance technology. The DEA did not say why it chose to use AirTag over any other GPS tracker. The report quoted Arizona Attorney General Brady Wilkins as saying that the DEA may switch to AirTag because the current GPS devices used by police are too ineffective. Whereas previous heavier, more visible GPS units were often spotted, the AirTag’s small size makes it easier to hide. AirTags also seem to have more reliable connectivity than other GPS devices.
However, in order to prevent AirTag from being used for malicious tracking purposes, Apple has introduced an update: when the iPhone detects that an unfamiliar AirTag has been moving with the user for more than a period of time, it will remind the user. The AirTag will also beep when its owner is not around for a period of time. It is unknown whether this update had a negative impact on the case. The search warrant gives the DEA permission to monitor the tracking device in Massachusetts and any other US state for a period of 45 days. The intended recipient of the tablet press has not been charged in federal court, according to court records. But the Justice Department says the recipient has been charged by the state. Neither the DEA nor Apple has commented on the case.
source:Forbes
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