November 11, 2024
UPDATE
Apple’s Find My enables users to share the location of lost items with third parties
Now available in beta with iOS 18.2, users can share a secure link with the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with others — and soon, with airlines
Apple has introduced Share Item Location, a new iOS feature that helps users locate and recover misplaced items by easily and securely sharing the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with third parties such as airlines. Share Item Location is available now in most regions worldwide as part of the public beta of iOS 18.2, which will soon be available to all users as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later. Find My is built with privacy and safety at its core. The shared location will be disabled as soon as a user is reunited with their item, can be stopped by the owner at any time, and will automatically expire after seven days.
“Find My is an essential tool for users around the world to keep track of and find their belongings,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services. “The Find My network and AirTag have proven to be a powerful combination for users while traveling, providing invaluable location information when bags have been misplaced or mishandled. With Share Item Location, we’re excited to give users a new way to easily share this information directly with third parties like airlines, all while protecting their privacy.”
Users can generate a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Recipients of a link will be able to view a website that shows a location of the item on an interactive map. The website will automatically update when a new location is available and will show a timestamp of the most recent update.
In the coming months, more than 15 airlines serving millions of people globally — including Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling — will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags. More airlines will be added over time.
Apple has worked directly with partner airlines to put systems in place to privately and securely accept Share Item Location, leveraging the hundreds of thousands of Apple devices many airlines are already using. Access to each link will be limited to a small number of people, and recipients will be required to authenticate in order to view the link through either their Apple Account or partner email address.
“We’ve worked closely with Apple to incorporate Share Item Location into our baggage recovery process and are excited to make this feature available to our customers soon,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. “We know many of our customers are already traveling with AirTag in their checked bags, and this feature will soon make it easier for them to share location information with us safely and securely, helping our customer service agents work more efficiently and giving our customers added peace of mind. We plan to accept Find My item locations in select airports initially, with the goal of introducing the service systemwide in early 2025.”
“While more than 99 percent of checked items make it to their destination as planned, we know how stressful it can be for customers when they don’t. That’s why we’re excited to support Share Item Location beginning later this year,” said Erik Snell, Delta Air Lines’ senior vice president of Airport Customer Service, Cargo Operations, Ground Support Equipment, and Global Clean. “It will provide our team with extra visibility to reunite those items with their owners. This cutting-edge solution, developed by Apple and in partnership with Delta Air Lines, will enable us to locate items more efficiently and effectively.”
“By accepting Find My item locations, we’ll be able to offer additional peace of mind to customers who travel with AirTag in their luggage,” said Annalisa Gigante, head of innovation at IAG, the parent company of British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL. “We’re always testing innovative solutions and enhancing our systems to ensure that checked bags reach their intended destination as quickly as possible, and we look forward to incorporating this solution into our lost baggage processes beginning later this year.”
Additionally, SITA, a leader in air transport technology, will build support for Share Item Location into WorldTracer, the baggage-tracing system used by over 500 airlines and ground handlers at more than 2,800 airports around the world.
“As the leading industry provider for end-to-end baggage management solutions, and with global passenger traffic set to double by 2040, airports and airlines worldwide will face important challenges. This collaboration with Apple will make it easy for airlines that use our industry-leading WorldTracer solution to implement Share Item Location for more efficient baggage management, and will be a huge benefit for passengers,” said Nicole Hogg, SITA’s director of Baggage. “We look forward to seeing this feature adopted across the industry to complement existing tracking tools.”
Share Item Location is built on the Find My network, a crowdsourced network of over one billion Apple devices that use Bluetooth wireless technology to detect missing devices or items nearby, and report their approximate location back to the owner. The entire process is end-to-end encrypted and anonymous, so no one else, not even Apple or Find My Network accessory manufacturers, can view a device’s location or information.
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