SUNDAY ISSUE
Tech giants need to realise misuse of tracking tags is stalking – it’s vital they can be disabled even if not located
It is essential that the Government reins them in
IRISH actress Aine O’Neill made headlines last month when she told of her US stalking hell.
A sicko planted an Apple AirTag location tracker, left, on her car and tormented the 33-year-old Dubliner for a month.
4
4
4
Aine said she discovered the tracker when a notification popped up on her phone.
When she flagged the tracker with the police, they told her: “There’s no way that this is anything other than sinister.”
Apple customer services said they could not disable the AirTag despite her pleas. She has joined a class action lawsuit along with 38 others to hold the tech giant responsible. There are fears such methods of stalking are now on the rise here too.
Here, Sinn Fein Senator Lynn Boylan addresses why the Government needs to crack down on this.
Read more on Stalking
IMAGINE leaving work late at night and getting a notification on your phone that you are visible to a tracking device and even when you arrive home, you are still being traced.
Then imagine waking up the next morning, getting into your car and driving to the shops and receiving the same notification.
No matter where you went, the device was following you. It knew where you were, when you were there and where you parked.
This is the real life experience of Irish actress and producer Aine O’Neill.
Most read in The Irish Sun
Somebody had hidden an Apple AirTag in her car, in a place impossible to find and they were tracking her movements.
If that was not terrifying enough, she was informed by Apple that, unless she could locate the physical air tag, it could not be disabled.
After trying two garages, she was informed by mechanics that they would have to dismantle her car in order to locate it.
My daughter Gracie Spinks was stabbed 10 times by stalker after police failed to spot his murder tool kit and dismissed it as a theatre prop
Unfortunately, her experience is not unique.
In Britain, the use of AirTags and other tracking devices to stalk women has increased by 317 per cent in the past five years.
There is little to suggest that it is any different here in Ireland. These devices are cheap and readily available. An abusive partner or stalker can easily purchase one and hide it in their partner’s or a stranger’s belongings.
Stalking laws
In November 2023, Ireland introduced legislation to make stalking a criminal offence.
This was really welcome and was supported by Sinn Fein in both the Dáil and Seanad. The legislation on harassment was also strengthened.
However, last week when I raised the use of AirTags and tracking devices in the Seanad with Minister Sean Fleming, I asked the Minister if our legislation was capable of capturing this type of stalking.
I have to say, the official response from the Department of Justice was not reassuring.
No guarantee of cover
I was told that the legislation “may” apply to electronic tagging devices but it was not guaranteed.
Likewise, I was informed that only now that I had highlighted this issue, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee would raise the matter with her Government colleague Minister Eamon Ryan as to whether further legislation was needed to regulate the technology.
So, worryingly, it is very clear, the use of tracking devices in stalking and coercive control was obviously not on the radar of the Government.
This is very concerning because at the time of their release, Apple and other manufacturers were all warned of the dangers of these products but they, along with the legislators, allowed them to be released anyway.
'Need to be reined in'
Only now are the tech companies scrambling to try and put the genie back in the bottle but it is too little too late. As seems to always be the way with tech companies.
Ireland is the European Headquarters to these tech giants, so it is essential that the Government reins them in.
We know that self-regulation doesn’t work, tech companies have been given ample opportunity to regulate themselves and have failed.
We need a Government that will put the safety of women and vulnerable people first.
'Completely unacceptable'
It is completely unacceptable that a person who is being traced by an abusive partner or random individual cannot disable a tracking device without being able to locate the physical tag.
Even more concerning is that Android phone users don’t even know they are being tracked unless they have downloaded a detector app.
It should be mandatory that these devices be made detectable to all.
The Government must step in and combat the use of these devices for insidious purposes.
Number of steps
There are a number of steps that they can take; first, they should roll out a public awareness campaign letting people know about these devices and how they can be used in stalking and how they can go undetected by Android phones and older phone models.
Then, they need to follow up with regulations to reign the tech companies in.
It is essential that any AirTag or electronic device that is tracking an individual without their consent can be disabled even if the device itself cannot be physically located.
Stalking has a profound impact on those who experience it, that is why it is essential that our laws to combat it are fit for purpose
4