Man Jailed After Using Apple AirTags to Stalk and Harass Ex-Girlfriend

A stalker was imprisoned for nine weeks for stalking his ex-girlfriend. The said stalker named Christopher Paul Trotman had planted an Apple AirTag in his ex-girlfriend's car.

Stalker Imprisoned for Using AirTag

According to 9to5Mac, the 41-year-old man was caught by the authorities after he texted his ex-girlfriend, telling her he knew where she was.

After he was released, a restraining order was filed against him because the court discovered that before he ordered an AirTag on Amazon and glued it to her rear bumper to track her every move, he harassed her with constant phone calls and questions.

According to the court document, the victim had been in a relationship with Trotman for 10 years before she broke up with him in 2020 due to his controlling behavior.

Prosecutor Tom Scapens said Trotman would bombard the victim with questions about her whereabouts even after their breakup and even offered her money so she could quit her job because he did not want her to talk to other men.

The prosecutor added that the victim did receive Apple's privacy alert on her iPhone, but she did not know what it meant, so she ignored it.

In August 2020, just weeks after their breakup, Trotman sent the victim a text message accusing her of sleeping with other men, according to Apple Insider.

He also asked her if she had "enjoyed a night out on Swansea's Penderry Road," but she had no idea how he knew where she went.

It was only when the victim's daughter received the same alert on her iPhone that Trotman's harassment and stalking came to light. The AirTag was found by the victim and her daughter glued to the underside of the rear fender.

The two of them reported the incident to the authorities, and they were able to trace the AirTag back to Trotman's iPhone. He initially denied the accusations, but he later pled guilty.

Given a past criminal history of violence, Trotman was remanded in custody until the trial. By that time, he had spent more than nine weeks in jail, so he was expected to be released after.

Trotman was then served with a restraining order banning him from any contact with his ex-girlfriend, according to MacDaily News.

Apple's Anti-Stalking Features

Since its release, Apple AirTags had been used inappropriately by a lot of people, especially those who want to stalk others.

Due to the increase in complaints and the trend of Bluetooth devices being exploited, the tech giant had added two anti-stalking features in the device.

First, iPhone users will be alerted if an unknown AirTag is moving with them. Second, AirTags will emit a sound if they are separated from their own for a long time.

Apple later created an Android app that allows owners of other devices to search for AirTags manually.

The tech giant also beefed up the protections by adding a new deterrent message and clearer alerts, but some users think more needs to be done since cases have skyrocketed in the past couple of months.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sophie Webster