I'm pretty sure it needs to be activated to an Apple account.
But seriously, people here way overthink things. If a random sicko wants to cause someone psychological distress there are a million ways that they can unfortunately do so that don't involve elaborate technology.
> If a random sicko wants to cause someone psychological distress there are a million ways that they can unfortunately do so that don't involve elaborate technology
This doesn't strike me as elaborate at all.
The fact is the largest generation living today is more engaged with the world via their smartphones than their physical surroundings. AirTags seem uniquely well suited to that reality, with Apple delivering notifications on the attackers' behalf and all.
It strikes me as dependent on the person being griefed being in the Apple ecosystem and the person doing the griefing using a device that is at least potentially tied to their IRL identity. Not saying it's not possible but seems at least an edge case.
And if they want to track, that ability was already available, for the same price as an AirTag, and without the annoying habit beeping loudly or notifying the victim that they are being tracked.
But seriously, people here way overthink things. If a random sicko wants to cause someone psychological distress there are a million ways that they can unfortunately do so that don't involve elaborate technology.