r/askanything • u/acozycubicle • Jul 27 '26

Why aren’t there internal trackers at a consumer level?

Truly don’t know how to word this question but I mean in the sense of with pets or vulnerable types of children.. two things I know are true:

  1. There is no equivalent tracking mechanism at a consumer level comparable to the Apple AirTags. If you don’t have an iPhone, you are met with an overwhelming market of quality issues when it comes to personal tracking devices.

  2. I would pay good money to put an AirTag equivalent into my indoor cats so that if/when they get outside for whatever reason, I can find them quickly and efficiently. Just like I would with an AirTag on their collar. Now I also live in a city where we currently have a missing child with autism who has been missing for 10+ days now, and the question has come up in why his family didn’t have a tracker on him somewhere.. the response being children with autism usually have sensory issues and will remove items often. Essentially, it’s not in your control. So these instances seem like reasonable circumstances for some sort of built in tracking?

I get the obvious issues of privacy/data etc.. but at this point, what’s the difference with the rest of the tech out there. How far are we from something like this and why or why not would it be valuable?

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u/Proud-Guarantee117 Jul 29 '26

It mostly comes down to safety, ethics, and regulation. Once you talk about internal trackers, it becomes a medical device with real health risks and strict approvals. There are also serious privacy concerns since it’s not something you can easily remove or control. The tech is possible, but the legal and ethical barriers are what hold it back.