IT Home, October 17 news, according to foreign media Appleinsider, accessory manufacturer Elevation Lab has announced the removal of its AirTag Silencer product and publicly apologized for the potential use of the product to track others.
According to the description, the AirTag Silencer is designed to permanently disable the built-in speaker of Apple AirTags, preventing them from making any sound. To use it, users must first remove the AirTag’s battery, place the tracker into a specialized mounting mold, and then use a hammer to drive a pin directly into the speaker. Elevation Lab claims this method renders the speaker completely inoperable without damaging any other components of the tracker.
When Elevation Lab launched this tool, it claimed the purpose was to prevent thieves from discovering and removing AirTags before stolen items are recovered—for example, users could attach a silenced AirTag to a bicycle to reduce the risk of the tracker being detected by thieves due to its sound. Nevertheless, Elevation Lab still faced widespread criticism from the industry.
In response to related concerns, Elevation Lab has now removed the product from its website and issued an apology statement. The company stated that its team initially intended to use the silenced AirTag for anti-theft tracking, but ultimately recognized that it could also be misused by malicious individuals to make it harder for people who do not receive phone alerts to detect that they are being tracked. Elevation Lab also stated that it will leverage its related patents to prevent other manufacturers from producing similar products.