New baggage tracking trend: Opportunities and risks of using AirTags

More and more people rely on digital luggage tags for tracking. The AirTags from Apple are ideal for this – with restrictions.

With airports crowded and luggage piling up, more and more people are interested in digital tags that can be used to track luggage. For Apple users, the focus here is primarily on the AirTags. According to a Bitkom survey, two thirds of holidaymakers in Germany are interested in digital luggage trackers or are already using them. In the meantime, success stories can be read online, where the followers have already helped with the search.

For example, Twitter tweeted the story of a newlywed British couple who returned from their honeymoon and found their three bags missing. Because an AirTag was placed in each bag, they were able to find out first that the airline had forgotten the luggage in Frankfurt. When the airline then tried to forward the bags to Great Britain, only two arrived. The third was located via AirTag at an apartment in central London. Since the airline did not help, there was a reunion with the luggage at the end with the help of the police – without a trailer that would have been quite unlikely.

Great interest in Germany

Stories like these seem to capture the imagination of many vacationers. According to a representative Bitkom survey of 1,005 people aged 16 and over in Germany, five percent of holidaymakers already use these mini transmitters. Another 58 percent are interested in it. It doesn’t always have to be the fear of loss that gives you the reason to buy an AirTag. Because tracking can also be useful for estimating when the luggage from your own flight will arrive at the baggage carousel in the pick-up area.

AirTags can be located using the Find My app on iPhone and iPad. The trackers do not have their own mobile or WLAN connection, but instead use Bluetooth to connect to Apple devices in their vicinity. These forward the location to the owner in encrypted form over the network. As a result, localization only works where other Apple devices are within Bluetooth range. Apparently, this works quite well in busy airports.

The desire to quickly find one’s luggage with digital technologies is not a question of generations. Both travelers between the ages of 16 and 29 (58 percent) and those aged 65 and over (55 percent) would like to equip their luggage with digital transmitters, as would 30 to 49 year olds (58 percent) and travelers between the ages of 50 and 64 (62 Percent).

Risk stalking protection

A possible problem when using the AirTags as a luggage tracker is the anti-stalking protection, which Apple has further tightened after criticism. The AirTags make themselves known after a while with a sound signal if they have not been in contact with the owner’s iPhone for a long time, and notifications are displayed on other iPhones. False alarms have also been heard more and more recently. This is unlikely to be a problem in baggage processing, but it could be irritating when a beeping piece of baggage rolls along the conveyor belt.

Is that even allowed?

It is still unclear how the airlines and airports will react to the new trend. The Swiss daily newspaper the airport in Zurich said that the AirTags were considered unproblematic due to the low signal power and the small batteries. The airline Swiss is still examining how it intends to deal with it in the future.