Air tag

[fd3]

My phone tells me that I have been air tagged by an app or something.
I have no idea what this means

[Jaded]

Maybe you've had an air tag near you that isn't yours?

[sizbut]

Air tag owners can now share air tag details with other people. Someone may have mistakenly picked your name from their list of contacts.

[Kim]

Air tags are a Mega-Global Fruit Co product for stalking your ex, finding your car keys and monitoring the performance of the Useless Workshy Twats at $shite_courier.

They're a little BLE thinger than broadcasts to all iThings within Devil's Other Radio range.  You can then locate your own Air tags via some app, as long as they've been picked up by someone's (doesn't have to be yours) iThing.  This makes it cheap and low power, but unreliable compared to an active tracking device with a GPS receiver and a cellular modem.

There are supposedly some protections to warn you when your stalker ex has snuk one into your footwell or handbag, but I think you only get those if you have an iThing yourself.

[fd3]

But ... I'm Android.

[MikeFromLFE]

But ... I'm Android.

The new update to Google's Find My Device app has a facility to notify you if you are 'being followed' by a tracker tag - this update was delayed for a considerable time because it needed to be compatible with both Apple Air Tags and the newer Android tags (from Chipolo and Pebbledee).
It's only really come on stream in the last couple of weeks.
I think that the idea is that you get a notification if an unknown tag is with you over a specific time.
I'm guessing that you are Alpha Testing the functionality in the real world.

I only know this because I've invested in a pack of the Chipolo Android tags which have just been delivered.
I'm finding it hard to recommend them just at the moment - the Google Find My Device app is... poor.

[blacksmithslane]

Here's an Apple article about what to do.... https://support.apple.com/en-gb/119874 it's possible someone could have placed an AirTag in your bag/pocket and be tracking you.

[grams]

You will also occasionally get warnings when moving in range of other people who have tags on their possessions.

I got a few such warnings on PBP. Oddly I’ve never had a ping on a bus or train.

[fd3]

I think my phone identified an air tag while I was out for.a.walk.

[TPMB12]

Apple were advised that their airtags had personal safety issues linked to the way the system was set up and had the opportunity to correct it without losing the good functionality I believe. They chose not to make those corrections only adding the alert feature. Not good enough but that's the Facebook/twitter X way of operating, minimal safety consideration with their systems. Too big to fully regulate perhaps?

[T42]

Unca Sam was probably finding them too convenient in assuring the safety of Demackrisy and the LOTF.  There's one of KSR's books where the govt. keeps track of people by the RFIDs left in their clothes during manufacture.

[Kim]

There's one of KSR's books where the govt. keeps track of people by the RFIDs left in their clothes during manufacture.

Why would they need to do that, when the people will maintain their own active tracking devices?

I can imagine retailers doing it, though.  "Person who bought [these products] came back and bought [these products]" is valuable marketing information, and if you're using those kind of tags you've probably already got a RFID antenna array at the doorways to detect shoplifting.