Surveillance-Minded Parents Can Now Hide AirTags In Kids Shoes

Yahoo

2 days ago

We interrupt your regularly scheduled doomscrolling to bring you a new development from the blossoming world of child surveillance: the sneaker brand Skechers is selling new kids shoes that come with a hidden AirTag compartment, enabling parents to quietly track their meandering progeny at all times.
Readers, we're officially Skech'd out.
According to the sneaker company, the tiny Apple tracking devices can be slotted into a hole in the heel of the shoes that's accessed by lifting the sole. That's the only difference with the shoes in its newly dubbed "Find My Skechers" line — otherwise, they're visually indistinguishable from regular pairs. They were announced earlier this month, but weren't spotted until this week, when they were noticed by Apple Insider.
Skechers seems to be aware of how creepy this all sounds, because its carefully worded marketing would have you believe that people want to use $30 AirTags to keep track of shoes that at most cost $60, and definitely not the kids that would be wearing them.
"Know where your kid's shoes are at all times and give yourself comfort of mind," reads one marketing line.
"See where your kid's shoes are with the Find My app," reads another.
"Each pair is designed with a secure, hidden pocket under the insole that perfectly fits an Apple AirTag®*, so you can always know where their favorite shoes are."
To be clear, the "Find My Skechers" are for younger kids and not, say, teenagers, who are old enough to demand some privacy away from their parents. And Skechers may argue that it's merely filling an existing demand, as many parents already use AirTags to keep tabs on their toddlers. The peace of mind it could give a beleaguered mom or dad who has to wrangle a bunch of wandering ankle-biters is a powerful thing indeed.
Still, in our age of mass surveillance, be it through algorithms or cameras, it does feel a little icky. And who's to say this won't inspire other brands to start selling their own AirTag ready apparel, until we reach a point where teens or adults are expected to wear them, too?
"A lot of 12-year-olds are going to learn the phrase 'op sec' in the next few years," quipped one user on Bluesky.
More nefariously, what if someone slips an AirTag into one of these compartments without consent — be they a parent or a stranger? What then? Maybe that sounds extreme, but Apple has had to constantly update its AirTag software to combat it being used as a stalking tool — which it has been on an alarming number of occasions.
Helpful as it may be, the shoes are a testament to how casual of a practice surveillance has become.
"Sync it to your drone for literal helicopter parenting," joked one user in The Verge's comments.
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