In the morning news on February 11, Beijing time, Apple announced on Thursday several changes to the way its AirTag product works, because the $29 tracker about the size of a quarter coin has been linked to suspicious crimes including stalking and car theft.

Apple says it will update iPhone and AirTag software to display a message during installation that in many parts of the world, using AirTag to track people is a crime, Law enforcement agencies may request user information related to them.

To prevent abuse by criminals, Apple announces improvements to AirTag!

In addition, Apple will introduce a feature called Precision Finding, which will allow iPhone users to discover nearby unknown AirTags.

For the product, which went on sale last April, the changes are Apple's most significant attempt yet to limit its privacy and tracking shortcomings.

Apple added that it is cooperating with law enforcement by providing relevant serial number and Apple ID information in response to law enforcement subpoenas for AirTag-related crimes. Apple also said that in some cases, it worked with authorities to locate suspects, who were subsequently arrested and charged.

The company markets AirTag as a lost item search device that helps users find items such as keys, wallets and backpacks. The product uses Bluetooth signals and the global network of other people's iPhones to calculate its location and display that information on a map in the user's Find My app. Due to iPhones are common in urban areas, so AirTag can effectively target a smaller area.

Apple says the AirTag does not use GPS and uses advanced encryption to make the AirTag "private and secure” by ensuring the anonymity of the user's iPhone on the Find My network.

But after the AirTag was released, the product started showing up in alleged crimes. For example, police say thieves can put AirTags in their cars to track motorists' destinations, then use their own Find My App to find the ideal location to carry out the heist. Some users claiming to have been victimized by it have also reported on social media that someone would put AirTags in women's pockets in bars or clubs to conduct stalking.

There have been previous reports of AirTag abuse being reported by police in Colorado, Georgia, Michigan and Texas.

Apple said on Thursday that incidents of AirTag abuse are "rare" and that it has built-in tools in iPhones to alert users to stalking. And before Apple released the AirTag, other lost-item tracking devices were already on the market, such as some from Tile, a maker of Bluetooth anti-lost devices.

Apple says: "AirTag is designed to help people locate personal belongings, not track individuals or other people's property, and we strongly condemn any malicious use of our products. Malicious tracking has long been a social issue, and we took that seriously in the design of the AirTag."

Last December, Apple launched an Android app for AirTag called Tracker Detect, which looks for unknown AirTags within Bluetooth range (such as those placed by criminals AirTag). Mobile phones with the latest software installed will automatically detect AirTags that do not belong to the user, and play a warning sound as a reminder. Apple said on Thursday that it will increase the volume of the AirTag's alert sound and display a pop-up window to users when someone else's AirTag is nearby. Additionally, users can remove the AirTag's cover and remove the battery to disable other people's AirTags they find.

The company previously said that only AirTag owners would be able to see where to find the device. This will change slightly in a future software update. A new feature called "Precision Finding" could allow new iPhones Users pinpoint unknown AirTags through a "combination of sound, haptic and visual feedback."

Apple hasn't released sales figures for the AirTag, but at $29 each, the product is unlikely to be a major driver of its sales growth. For Apple, the product is said to be strategic: Features like the Find My app make users more likely to upgrade and buy the latest model iPhone.

In Apple's marketing, the company has always cited privacy and security as the main reasons for users to buy its products, so the AirTag Reports of being used for malicious tracking and crime have forced the tech giant to strike a delicate balance of providing users with a useful lost-item search product while eliminating the negative impact of the location tracking function of this product.