AirPods are not only used to listen to music or talk on the phone with the best possible qualities. It has recently been known that they have been used to catch some criminals in San Francisco. We already know that Apple headphones can be found in case of loss or theft thanks to the Find My functionality. Using this functionality you can locate the devices but also the person or persons who stole it. That is what happened this time. It's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last.
Police in Berkeley, San Francisco, arrested a man and a woman in early July in connection with a auto theft investigation Apparently not only did they take a car but there were also some AirPods. Consequently, the Find My application could be launched and in this way the location of the stolen headphones was tracked. The authorities located the two people and confirmed that they were the perpetrators of the robberies. All this thanks to the use of location tracking. At least that is what the Alameda County Sheriff's office has stated.
When they located the criminals, a device was mounted for his arrest. This forced authorities to launch a car chase through Oakland, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany and finally Berkeley.
As we said It is not the first time that the Find My functionality has been used to locate and arrest perpetrators of theft and criminal acts.. It has even been used to spot troops in Ukraine's ongoing war against Russia.
This Find My function is very powerful and can be used for ethical ends like on this occasion, but it can also be used for much more questionable goals and dangerous as has also happened with the airtags.