Ohio lawmakers want to stop criminals from using Apple AirTags to track people

VANDALIA — Ohio lawmakers are trying to stop criminals from using Apple AirTags to track people.

They are used to help people keep track of things they can lose easily, like keys or their wallets.

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Lawmakers told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell AirTags have been used to stalk people and now they want to stop that from happening.

People that work with AirTags emphasize that they are very small, no larger than an SD card. That means they are very easy to drop into a car or attach to a car, even to put in someone’s bag or purse and that person would never know.

“You wouldn’t know unless you found it,” said John Wheeler of The Digital Cowboy Business. “You wouldn’t know.”

Wheeler runs the Digital Cowboy Business on E. National Road in Vandalia and says AirTags are good for helping us keep track of things.

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“Items that are tracked are usually keys, phones, laptops, things that you don’t want to lose, that are easy to misplace,” Wheeler told Campbell.

But he knows that AirTags have also become popular for people trying to track other people without their permission.

“We came home from the party and had an AirTag notification come up on her phone,” said Lauren Penley.

She and a friend freaked out when they received that notification and looked everywhere in their home and vehicle.

“Nothing ever came about but it was a scary time,” said Penley. “We were searching, making search no placed an AirTag on us.”

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Campbell says she believes people that hid AirTags to find people’s locations should get in trouble for taking that step. Ohio State Senator Nicki Antonio agrees.

She is sponsoring Senate Bill 100 which would make placing AirTags without a person’s consent a crime.

“We’re identifying it as, at least a problem,” said Antonio. “It’s illegal and you are breaking the law.”

She is the Minority Leader in the Ohio Senate and heard testimony from an Akron woman that had an ex-boyfriend track her for 24 hours with an AirTag.

Antonio calls that stalking and believes lawmakers need to step in.

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“(We must) try to get our code updated with what’s going on in the real world,” she said.

If the bill becomes law, violators could be sentenced to 180 days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine, the first time. But some believe it will be tough to track.

“It’s not going to solve the original problem,” said Wheeler. “Which is, you don’t know I just stuck one in your back pocket.”

Police agencies and sheriff’s departments say if you receive an AirTag notification, they advise driving straight to their parking lots while you check and figure it out, at least people would be in a safe place.

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