The story of the man who used an Apple Watch to perfectly spy on his ex-girlfriend

A 19-year-old man was arrested over the weekend on charges of hiding an Apple Watch in the vehicle of his ex-partner's car to track his every move. The incident occurred in Tennessee, United States and is yet another example of how technology is sometimes used to stalk or monitor people.

The watch was hidden in one of the wheels of the woman's car. An officer from a family safety center reported that the man had followed the woman to that place, where she had just gone to ask for a restraining order against her former partner.

The man already had two counts of domestic violence and his former partner was trying to get a measure to drive him away. After the complaint, the police arrived at the scene and found the man crouched by the door on the woman's passenger side.

When confronted by the authority, he acknowledged that he had hidden the Apple Watch in one of the front wheels of the woman's vehicle and used it to track her movements. As a result, a lawsuit was filed accusing him of placing an electronic tracking system in the vehicle.

According to research published in February 2021, about 35% and 46% of adults surveyed say they have been victims of cyberbullying, which refers to the use of mobile devices or other forms of technology to harass or stalk a victim.

There are reports of harassment that refer to the use of AirTags for that purpose. This technology was developed by Apple as a tool to make the task of finding lost objects easier: the disc just over 30 millimeters in diameter can be attached to almost any surface to have any object “at hand”. However, such a device has also been used to harass people.

As a result of this situation, Apple made some updates to make it difficult to use this system to harass or track other people without consent. The company incorporated a feature that causes the AirTag to emit a loud sound if it is not near the owner's phone, to function as an alert system.

On the other hand, the computer giant has a guide with some recommendations and configuration tips to protect the privacy of computers designed specifically for those who believe they may be victims of harassment.

It should be noted that there is a lot of software that is used specifically to do this type of unauthorized tracking. These types of programs are known as stalkerware. In addition to the controversial nature of this type of system, many of these applications contain vulnerabilities that expose the privacy and security of those who are spied and also of those who spy.

Applications of this type have become increasingly popular in recent years, security researchers have reported more than once. Stalkerware can monitor a victim's device's GPS location, conversations, images, browser history, and more. It also stores and transmits all this data.

Physical access to the victim's device is usually required to install this type of content. To avoid being identified as stalkerware and stay off the radar, the providers of these applications often classify them as protection for children, partners or employees, however, the word “spy” is also used many times on websites.

It should be noted that Google Play has a security measure that prohibits spy apps in its digital store. However, sometimes monitoring apps are downloaded from outside the official store, through an APK, so despite this restriction, people who install this type of content achieve their purpose using other ways. In turn, in some cases, as already mentioned above, they are masked as alleged applications of another type, such as protection and care for children, for example.

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