AirTags, Apple’s tracking devices that look like little white discs, transmit Bluetooth signals to nearby Apple devices, allowing owners to locate them (and anything they’re connected to) on a map. Since Apple launched AirTags in 2021, people have used the trackers to find lost bags, keys, and pets. AirTags have been controversial, because they have also been used to watch unsuspecting victims.
The use of AirTag technology in political lawn signs appears to be gaining popularity. Earlier this year, a candidate in Florida tracked a campaign sign stolen from the home of a political rival thanks to an AirTag.
Arlene Talley, a friend of Gilson’s and a member of the Chester County Democratic Committee who also had signs stolen from her front lawn, was one of the first to show up at the dumpster after Gilson passed on its location. Inside, Talley found 118 signals. “I started taking them out and putting them in my car,” Talley told BuzzFeed News.
Among the candidates whose signs were stolen was Pennsylvania State Representative Melissa Shusterman, who is running for re-election. “Kudos to the technology of an AirTag!” Shusterman told BuzzFeed News in a phone call, shortly after tweeting an image of the signs on the dumpster and accusing “local Republicans” of stealing them.
