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AirTag Removable Battery Sparks Child Safety Concerns

Whilst we're all getting excited, without almost anyone here knowing anything.
How about we all wait till we all have AirTags and find out just how easy it is for us, or our young child to open it.

If we/our kids can open it really easy due to the design, then we can legitimately have a concern.
If however it's really hard to open, unless you have a strong grip or press on it, then it's probably fine, and a fuss over nothing really.

It's nothing about should they or not fitted a removable battery (and I'm very pleased they did) it's totally about how easy it it to open it up and pop it open.
 
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LeeW said:
It does not change the point that there are many dangers around the home that need to be monitored. Everyone in this thread can walk around right now and find dangers, some they perhaps had not thought about.

There is a simple rule for anything that involves a risk to children. Keep those items out of reach. Parenting 101.
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Absolutely. But coin cells are known to be exceptionally dangerous: they're a bright, shiny object that is basically irresistible to small children who will inevitably want to put it in their mouths. Swallowing them can cause severe burns to internal organs, and even death in some cases.

The AirTag itself is probably safe enough: it's big enough that it won't be swallowed easily. But Apple need to be very careful with the design to ensure the battery can't be accessed by curious kids. And I don't think they've done a good job of that with the current iteration.
 
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The tag is literally designed to attach to something you might lose - so if the tag has any use it's meant for scenarios where you don't know where it is. Not sure that 'monitor your children!' applies here.

Swallowing a sealed Airtag is likely not as a bad as opening it up and swallowing the battery - also the tag is pretty chunky and will be attached to something. But the battery isn't

Again - sell them as intended for households with no / older children, or sell them with a secure battery door.
 
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BvizioN said:
Someone who is not smart enough to understand that such electronic devices are not suitable for under 3's and need warning signs to become aware, probably shouldn't be trusted to rise children.
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Hopefully no parent is dumb enough to give their kids AirTags to play with. But we're all human and humans make mistakes. People leave keys and things lying around and curious kids will inevitably find them. This is, after all, the whole reason that AirTags exist in the first place!
 
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Ahem.

Family from my hometown had a child who died from swallowing one of these batteries. Girl was 2, found it in a drawer. It wasn't until a few days later the family found out what she had done---by that time, the stomach acid had eaten through the battery and the chemical components of the battery in turn damaged her stomach and intestines. I'm not here to suggest that these need recalled, nor to absolve parents or guardians from responsible behavior with their children but to point out to those who are mocking this to at least think of the decision to pull these from the shelves in a different light.

Aside from that, it's enough of an issue that Duracell is now putting a "bad taste" coating on these type batteries:

www.pcmag.com

Duracell Is Making Coin Batteries Taste Horrible on Purpose

By making the batteries taste bad, Duracell hopes to discourage young children from swallowing them.
www.pcmag.com www.pcmag.com
 
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appahappa said:
Oh, what the hell!? Everything poses a risk to a child. Coins are dangerous, pencils, many more things in households. Forbid everything!
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Coins aren't really dangerous in the same way that battery cells are. Choking risk, perhaps? But usually if a coin is swallowed they'll just poop them out. But swallowing a battery cell can cause severe internal burns, possibly requiring a trip to the ER. Or worse.
 
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Im sure someone can design a childproof keyring/tag holder or something. I mean my car keys have the same battery and I dont see anyone up in arms about those. Hopefully this doesnt lead to non replaceable batteries in the next iteration
 
These batteries are used in a lot of toys but as far as I am aware the battery compartment has to be screwed to stop children opening the device. I can see why this would be a concern with AirTags as I have seen how easy it is to open them up. I’m surprised a company the size of Apple didn’t check this sort of thing at the R&D stage? Their regs department should have pointed this out really. Not sure what the rules are in the US, but Europe is quite strict on this sort of thing as these batteries have caused more than a few infant deaths.
 
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Asbestos and lead paint was all the rage when I was a little one.... My goodness how do they let kids play with LEGOS?
 
superleccy said:
Those who say "duh, just don't give let your kids play with airtags" are missing the point. You're either not parents yourselves, or you're an accident waiting to happen. Until you're a parent, you can't possibly imagine the ingenious, creative and frankly bizarre ways that kids can injure themselves. You can't eliminate risk, but you can minimise it.

TL;DR: Don't diss concerned parents, don't underestimate kids. But, FFS, chill.
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Maybe take your own advice and don't "diss" other parents who have a different view than yours?

If your kids and parenting style are such that airtags are a real danger to your children, as opposed the myriad other coin-cell battery equipped devices with twist-open battery covers, pick up some TagVaults or similar. https://www.macrumors.com/2021/04/30/elevationlab-tagvault-airtag-holder/
 
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Reason077 said:
Hopefully no parent is dumb enough to give their kids AirTags to play with. But we're all human and humans make mistakes. People leave keys and things lying around and curious kids will inevitably find them.!
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Exactly! People are also good at trying to blame someone else for their mistakes. Ideally someone with a lot of money.
 
This isn’t surprising, Officeworks has been leading button battery safety in Australia for 5 years…

www.abc.net.au

Retailers consider dumping button batteries as safety code released

Some of Australia's major retailers have agreed to new measures designed to stop the number of young children swallowing button batteries.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au

The Industry Code for Consumer Goods that Contain Button Batteries was developed by a range of businesses, led by Officeworks, and with help from importers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, industry associations, testing and standards and regulatory affairs businesses.

404 Page not found

www.wesfarmers.com.au www.wesfarmers.com.au
 
GLS said:
Ahem.

Family from my hometown had a child who died from swallowing one of these batteries. Girl was 2, found it in a drawer. It wasn't until a few days later the family found out what she had done---by that time, the stomach acid had eaten through the battery and the chemical components of the battery in turn damaged her stomach and intestines. I'm not here to suggest that these need recalled, nor to absolve parents or guardians from responsible behavior with their children but to point out to those who are mocking this to at least think of the decision to pull these from the shelves in a different light.

Aside from that, it's enough of an issue that Duracell is now putting a "bad taste" coating on these type batteries:

www.pcmag.com

Duracell Is Making Coin Batteries Taste Horrible on Purpose

By making the batteries taste bad, Duracell hopes to discourage young children from swallowing them.
www.pcmag.com www.pcmag.com
Click to expand...

Interesting read. Smart move by Duracell. Still does nothing for millions of incompetent parents not child proofing their homes. It’s simply hip to investigate Apple these days. Take them off the shelves so Australia can focus on its Iron Ore, Coal, and Natural Gas export based economy. ;)
 
It is all about parental supervision and education.

Kids are going to be kids, babies will try to put anything in their mouth, little ones will try anything and everything, …

Extra velcro and a safety screw or two on toys: OK.
For the rest: childproof, supervise, educate when the time comes

Until then: better hide all the remotes in the tv room, turn off all the major electronics, don’t have any small electronic devices, remove all the outlets, add padding to the walls, put all the plastic toys away, back to wooden blocks and a ball, …
 
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contacos said:
A Lego figure shouldn’t be able to be taken apart and 5 sizes bigger too then. Or what about your remote that you can easily take the batteries out?
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There are no remotes which contain coin-cell batteries that can be easily taken out. Or at least, if they exist they sure don't comply with regulations. A screw or other child-proof enclosure is a requirement.
 
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Ok, so faced with this issue, everyone who has concerns and already bought the Airtags can return them or throw them away. Anyone who is thinking about buying them can make the decision not to.

All about choices folks. You do not need an Airtag.
 
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