After a viral TikTok trend spurred tens of thousands of car thefts this summer, cops in Washington, DC, started realizing that it was much easier to recover stolen vehicles that could be tracked with Apple AirTags.
Because of this, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) rolled out a pilot program this week, doling out free tracking devices to residents in DC areas where cops are seeing “the greatest increase in vehicle theft,” according to a press release from the office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Over the next few days, MPD will hand out the tracking devices—both AirTags and Tiles—at distribution events, where officers will help residents hide the devices in their vehicles and pair the devices to their phones. Residents will be able to choose whether they want an AirTag or a Tile, MPD said, and once the device is installed, only the resident will have access to tracking information as the sole owner of the device, but they will be required to share data with police if their vehicle is stolen.
“Our goal is not just to prevent carjackings and motor vehicle thefts, but also to ensure swift law enforcement action when these incidents occur,” Pamela Smith, MPD’s acting chief of police, said in the press release. “These tracking devices allow our officers and detectives to be better positioned to quickly locate stolen vehicles, recover property, and gather vital evidence for investigations.”
At a press conference, Smith declined to say how many tracking devices would be distributed to DC residents, but she noted that more than 1,000 residents signed up for a wheel lock distribution program similarly designed to prevent car thefts. At the same event, Bowser said that “thousands” of residents signed up for a Private Security Camera Incentive Program, receiving a $500 rebate after installing security cameras outside their homes or businesses.
While MPD made it clear that “the device can only be accessed by the owner of the device,” the price of participating in the pilot seems to be a promise to cooperate with law enforcement if a resident’s car is ever stolen.
“Participating in the program means you are pledging to share tracking data if your vehicle is stolen at a future date,” MPD said in an FAQ. That specifically means that residents are agreeing to “log into your account and show the officer where your device is pinging,” should their car get stolen.
This could raise privacy concerns for some residents who might want to better understand how their data could be used by police before participating in the program. A spokesperson for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital rights group, told Ars that “people have every right to opt into this, but they should be fully informed and that means asking questions about the exact terms that apply—for example, what the AirTag and Tile policies are regarding release of user data to law enforcement.”
MPD’s program is similar to a program implemented by the New York Police Department back in April, giving out free AirTags in neighborhoods experiencing a 548 percent increase in stolen Hyundai and Kia makes, CBS News reported. An NYPD account posted on X, which was then known as Twitter, pointed to AirTags as a key tool in “21st century policing.”
“The 21st century calls for 21st century policing. AirTags in your car will help us recover your vehicle if it’s stolen,” the NYPD chief of department account said. “We’ll use our drones, our StarChase technology and good old fashion police work to safely recover your stolen car. Help us help you, get an AirTag.”
But Smith said at the press release that MPD’s program was not prompted by NYPD’s. Instead, Smith said that her department had contacted the Denver Police Department, which told her that AirTags “was one of the tools” that “they wish they had.” Smith said she had also personally used AirTags to recover lost items and noted that residents already installing AirTags and Tiles in their vehicles helped MPD be “successful in the recovery of some of the stolen vehicles that we’ve recovered.”
According to Smith, it’s common for perpetrators of car theft to re-offend, and “a single arrest can help bring closure to multiple cases.”
In DC, the so-called Tracking Tag Distribution Program is part of a growing initiative to invest in police technology placed in residents’ homes, businesses, and vehicles, expanding police surveillance in communities in the name of combatting crime. At the press conference, Smith said that the program might not prevent car thefts or carjackings but that “swift law enforcement” and rapid arrests can help deter future crime. As Bowser said, “the word will also get out that this is not a community to come in and steal cars, because it won’t be worth your while.”
In New York, Mayor Eric Adams made a bolder claim, saying that deploying AirTags in resident vehicles “could lead to a decrease in grand larcenies,” CBS News reported.
NYPD’s 43rd Precinct in the Bronx reportedly has “the highest rates of grand larceny autos in the city,” CBS News reported, and Adams said there was an “astronomical increase in stolen Hyundai and Kias, compared to last year.”
While police departments broadened surveillance to crack down on the problem, Hyundai and Kia rushed out updates to prevent the method of car theft that was popularized on TikTok, and the car companies eventually agreed to a $200 million settlement with customers whose cars were targeted.
Like MPD, the NYPD has confirmed that only owners of free AirTags distributed by police will have access to tracking data, but since these programs are so new, there may be additional privacy concerns to consider. EFF recommends that any resident considering opting into these types of programs should ask police exactly how their data might be used by law enforcement. The same advice likely goes for any police program relying on consumer technology to expand community surveillance, which both DC and New York officials suggested would likely become more common.
“Using technology to fight crime, protect people, save property is the direction this administration and this police department is going in,” Adams said in a statement reported by CNBC.
“We always want our residents to be able to be empowered to help themselves,” Bowser said at the press conference.