For as long as keys have existed to open locks, there has also been the reality that misplacing a key is a big-time problem.
A lock works very effectively to keep people who are not supposed to be able to open it from doing so.
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Unfortunately, if you lose a key to something you regularly use without thinking twice, then you quickly find out that you are simply among the set of people that cannot open the lock.
People will never stop losing their keys from time to time. But technology has intervened. Many people are now using electronic devices to track possessions, such as keys.
One popular example is Apple (AAPL) -) AirTags — small disks that communicate digitally with an app. Attach one to your keys, and you will be able to find them no matter where they are.
"Attach one to your keys. Put another in your backpack. And just like that, they're on your radar in the Find My app, where you can also track down your Apple devices and keep up with friends and family," writes Apple on its AirTags website.
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One traveler gets an unwelcome surprise
Air travelers have taken to using AirTags to track items they are traveling with, such as personal items packed in checked luggage.
If a suitcase or other possession ends up in the wrong place, for example, its owner can check an app on their phone to find it and alert the airline as to where it is.
One Delta Air Lines (DAL) -) flyer recently had a startling discovery while doing this.
"A Delta Air Lines passenger tracked down the noise cancelling headphones he left on a flight at an employee's house," wrote Gary Leff on View From the Wing. "The airline says the employee is no longer working for them."
"Mat Krantz left the headphones behind when he got off of a flight from Atlanta to Raleigh," Leff wrote. "He realized right away that they were still on board as soon as he'd exited the jet bridge, but he wasn’t allowed back on board to retrieve them. He filed a report with the airline and airport, and he tracked the headphones with the help of an Apple AirTag which was attached to the headphones' case."
Krantz consulted the app on his phone that tracks the AirTags.
"The man expected the headphones to turn up at lost and found, but the next day they showed at 'a random home in Raleigh,'" Leff continued. "His wife talked him out of going to the home to confront the headphone thief, and he contacted police instead."
"It moved in the middle of the night, right when I would think a shift worker’s shift would end when the airport closed," Krantz said according to Leff. "So, my first thought was, 'Oh, the cleaning crew probably took it home with them.'"
The police eventually did visit the home where the app indicated the AirTag was.
"They knocked on the door and when the person answered, they owned up to the situation and handed back my headphones," Krantz said, according to View From the Wing.
"According to Delta, 'the person involved in the incident no longer works for' the airline," Leff wrote.
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