Australian regulator warns parents to keep AirTags away from children for safety

An AirTag safety warning issued in Australia advises parents to keep Apple’s personal item tracker away from children due to its easy-to-access battery posing a choking hazard.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Australia’s regulator issues a safety warning for AirTag
  • The safety warning focuses on the AirTag battery compartment
  • It claims it’s hard to tell when the backplate is properly closed

Apple AirTag personal item tracker held between mid air by a person

Australia’s AirTag safety warning on the battery compartment

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a safety warning concerning AirTag, Apple’s coin-sized personal item tracker introduced earlier in 2020.

According to a document on the ACCC website, the easy-to-access AirTag battery compartment with its press-and-twist mechanism makes it all too easy for children to open the backplate. Due to the size of the battery, that could potentially be hazardous to your junior who might be tempted (as kids often are) to swallow the coin-cell lithium battery.

The ACCC is concerned that the AirTag’s battery compartment could be accessible to young children, and the button battery removed with ease. In addition, the AirTag battery compartment’s lid does not always secure fully on closing, and a distinctive sound plays when an AirTag’s lid is being closed, suggesting the lid is secure when it may not be.

The press-and-twist mechanism requires that the user firmly push the back button, then turn it counterclockwise to access the internal battery. AirTag also plays a chime confirming the battery is installed even if the backplate is not securely closed.

How to reset your AirTag to factory settings

Product packaging is another point of concern for the Australian regulator because it includes no warning about “the presence and dangers of button batteries”. Apple subsequently did add an appropriate warning label to the AirTag packaging but the ACCC nevertheless remains concerned about children being able to access the battery.

Apple already stated that AirTag is in compliance with global and local regulations.

AirTag is designed to meet international child safety standards, including those in Australia, by requiring a two step push-and-turn mechanism to access the user-replaceable battery. We are following the regulations closely and are working to ensure that our products will meet or exceed new standards, including those for package labeling, well ahead of the timeline required.

Earlier in 2020, Officeworks, an Australian retailer with more than 160 stores across the country, pulled its entire AirTag offering from store shelves citing child safety concerns.