Technology can make our lives easier in so many different ways.
Unfortunately, it's also possible to exploit technology to enable stalking, or worse.
TikToker Sheridan Ellis shared a scary story from a night out at the bar. Apparently another bargoer wanted to keep tabs on her for the night — and knew just the device to make it possible.
In it, Sheridan tells her story. In short, after she returned home from a trip to the bar for a friend's birthday, she found something unusual in her purse. It was a Tile tracker, which is usually designed to help people keep track of things like their keys.
"It's not mine, I don't know how it got in my purse," she explains. "I immediately took the battery out. Don't worry, but yeah — check your purses and stay safe out there."
Someone named Tannith Mitchell innocently asked Sheridan in the comment section, "[...] did you make sure none of the bday party lost one?"
Sheridan assured Tannith she did ask, so it seems as though the tracking device was placed in her purse by someone she didn't know.
These trackers are small little devices that can be attached to pretty much anything.
Once linked to a phone app via Bluetooth, they act as a sort of homing device. In Sheridan's case, it could have allowed a stalker to follow her home.
Commenter Desa Bell was quick to add, "Where ever you take the battery out... it pings the last place that it was. So if you took it out at home they still have your address."
Sheridan responded, "[...] I took it out before then thankfully."
This is definitely something to keep in mind, though. Perhaps it's best to check your belongings before getting home.
It's a plausible story and I really don't get why anyone would think she was lying, but Sheridan responded to the doubters.
Tile trackers are inexpensive, and there's no reason to think that this tactic never gets used.
Make sure to watch Sheridan's TikTok below, then let us know your thoughts in the comments. What's the creepiest thing that's ever happened to you at a bar?
