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TikTok has been found selling GPS trackers through its Shop feature that are being marketed by viral videos explicitly encouraging secretly tracking a romantic partner. What’s most alarming is that these videos have millions of views, and metrics show that over a hundred thousand have been sold.
I usually reserve Security Bite for digital security topics, but this discovery was too riveting to ignore. As first reported by 404 Media, the trackers are being compared to Apple AirTags—but for the wrong reasons…
The pitch
“If your girl says she’s just out with friends every night, you’d better slap one of these on her car—no, it is not an AirTag, it’s a real GPS tracker,” one of the TikToks that amassed 5 million views begins. The video shows the tracker being stashed in various hiding spots: a plastic bag in the trunk, stuck magnetically to the bottom of the car, or even tucked beneath the hood.
“And, unlike AirTags, this thing doesn’t make a sound, doesn’t send alerts, she will never know it’s there. It’s tiny, black, magnetic, hide it under the seat, in the trunk, wherever. It’s got its own SIM so you can track her anywhere in the world, no wifi, no bluetooth, just raw location data whenever you want it.” It continues by encouraging people to use them to stalk their friends or partners who they suspect aren’t being upfront about where they’re going or where they’re at.
“Not everyone who uses this is crazy, they just want answers,” another one says. “You got a cheating girlfriend?” Some other videos start with ”Don’t let what happened at the coldplay concert happen to you” with the hashtag #coldplay in the caption. And “She seriously didn’t trust me, so you know what, I put one in hers too”, and more.
Apart from being a literal crime in many parts of the world, tracking people without consent is very unethical at the least. The clips advertise that the trackers are undetectable by Apple’s Find My feature, but this is not the case, as many one-star reviewers tragically found.
The fail
Rather hilariously, the GPS trackers that claim to be completely undetectable by Find My are a literal Find My-enabled accessory. Any tracker certified for the Find My network is required to include the same anti-stalking protections as AirTag. This includes iPhone and Android alerts and audible chimes if the tracker is moving with an individual who’s not the owner over a period of time. They don’t have “their own cellular data.”
Apple explicitly states on its support site for Find My network accessories that “They should not be used to track people, and should not be used to track property that does not belong to you.” In this case, though, the anonymous creators behind these viral videos seem less concerned with the legality and more about a quick cash grab—likely reselling bulk GPS trackers from sites like Alibaba. I even came across the very same devices promoted on YouTube, albeit in a more ethical way, and not indirectly instructing people on how to stalk.
The takeaway
TikTok’s content policy says the platform does “not allow any violent threats, promotion of violence, incitement to violence, or promotion of criminal activities that may harm people, animals, or property.”
According to 404 Media, the handful of concerning videos it brought to TikTok’s attention have since been deleted, but many others still exist.
As of writing, the misleading “undetectable GPS tracker” with its “own cellular data” is still being sold on TikTok Shop for $10 USD.
The danger is obvious: a huge platform like TikTok should not be making it alarmingly easy to buy and market tools for stalking, even if they don’t work as advertised. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that these videos expose bad actors who are making themselves visible, thinking the trackers work.
TikTok seems more careless than ever about what’s being marketed and sold through its Shop. I haven’t even gotten to the other viral videos showing people how to bug cars with hidden voice recorders.
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