A TikToker took to the platform to say her daughter’s dad, while he had custody of her one weekend, placed an AirTag on the girl. The incident is sparking debate from commenters wondering if the move is about the girl’s safety or tracking the mother and daughter, creepily, from afar.
The video comes courtesy of TikToker Ikiera, who posted it Thursday, with more than 1.1 million views as of Sunday. In the caption accompanying the video, she pleaded, “Idk what to do in this situation pls help,” and commenters were plentiful in their opinions.
To set the scene, Ikiera explains, “I got a notification that there was an AirTag near me.”
After seeing the notification and hearing a sound, she says she went looking for the mystery AirTag. Then she asks, “Do you know where I found it?” The video then cuts to a scene of the TikToker taking an AirTag out of her daughter’s pink jacket. But how did it get there?
“Me and my daughter’s dad split custody,” she explains. “He has her on the weekends and he decided to put an AirTag in her jacket.
@ikieralee19 Idk what to do in this situation pls help #girlmom ♬ original sound – I K I E R A
She then asks, “Is this normal? Like, is this a normal human being thing to do?” She then closes the video by wondering if it was legal.
According to Apple, which addresses the issue on an AirTag support page, “They should not be used to track people, and should not be used to track property that does not belong to you. Using these products to track people without their consent is a crime in many countries and regions around the world. If an AirTag, set of AirPods, or Find My network accessory is discovered to be unlawfully tracking a person, law enforcement can request any available information from Apple to support their investigation.”
That page also provides instructions for stopping unwanted tracking, though as some commenters pointed out, her finding the AirTag means that she now has options for what to do.
Viewers were decidedly divided on determining her ex’s reasons as well as what she might do next.
One reasoned, “I would do this for my child! It’s for safety.”
Another commenter added, “If I could afford air tags I would def put one on my kid.”
Yet another opined, “I think it’s normal, with everything going on with this world he’s playing it safe.”
But others felt the move was to track the mom rather than the kid — or, at least, where the mom was taking the kid.
“If it was for safety, he would have told you,” one chimed in.
Another observed, “All I see is red flags.”
“It’s not normal,” yet another observed. “It’s sneaky and he’s using the kid to track YOU.”
One person, echoing past stories where women report having AirTags being used to stalk them, relayed, “I had a guy I went on a date with put it in my bag and he was stalking me and the police wouldn’t do anything.”
Several commenters suggested some kind of payback.
“Post it to Costa Rica,” one suggested.
Another suggested, “Buy a new jacket and when she is with you leave that jacket at home and have her wear her new jacket with you.”
One offered a more pointed alternative. “Leave it [at] the courthouse. So he know not to play tit for tat games.”
In a follow-up video, the TikToker shares how she confronted her ex about it.
@ikieralee19 Replying to @Ashley ♬ original sound – I K I E R A
“He said that he was collecting addresses that I take my daughter to,” she says in the clip. Many viewers in the comments speculated the father was probably trying to build a case against her to obtain full custody of their daughter.
Ikiera clarified in the comments section that she and her ex split up two years ago and that he has been trying to gain full custody ever since.
The Daily Dot has reached out to the TikToker for comment.
