Australian retail store temporarily removes air tag due to safety concerns

Apple’s Lost & Found tracker AirTag has been temporarily suspended for safety concerns in major Australian retail stores.

The removal of Airtags from large Australian retail outlets Officeworks and online shopping malls was reported through the Internet community Reddit. The user is posting that the system checks that the employee is in stock and the other clerk remembers selling it on Friday, but could not find that day.

Accordingly, as a result of inquiries to Officeworks, it was temporarily demolished for safety reasons. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission replied that it cannot be handled until a new directive is issued by the ACCC, and that it is continuing to work with Apple to resolve safety issues.

Apple believes that the problem is likely to be a button battery, but it added that AirTag is designed to meet international child safety standards, including Australia, by allowing users to go through two steps to change the battery.

ACCC did not comment on the discontinuation of air tag sales, but if it finds that the product supplied by the supplier is unsafe, it will voluntarily recall to notify consumers of the risk to resolve the safety problem or expect the product to be removed from the market. It is clarifying the general theory.

Even if Australian law does not emphasize that the battery can be replaced, consumer goods with user-openable battery compartments require that the compartment be designed so that infants cannot open the compartment, requiring screws or similar fasteners to secure the cover. It says that it is. What made this difficult is that since 2013, three children have died from swallowing button batteries, and an estimated 20 people have been in emergency situations.

Obviously, the air tag does not include screws, but it is difficult to think of an infant accidentally opening the battery and swallowing the battery unless there is a device to twist the cover, and it is unlikely that the regulations were violated. However, because Apple did not state that it was complying with Australian law, Officeworks may have taken action in fear of an emergency. Related information can be found here.