Women, femmes, and gender-non-conforming people have to be hyper-aware as they go through the world trying to avoid harassment (or worse) and keep themselves safe. Turns out their AirDrop name and privacy is one more thing they need to be aware of as they move through the world.
In a TikTok video, Kelly (@dinkprogressivedogmo) stitched her own video about phone safety before recounting her real-life experience with a creepy man at the airport.
In the stitched video, Kelly warns people that their first and last names may be fully visible on AirDrop and recommends that they go into their settings and change it. She even gives a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
Viewers can see on Kelly’s phone screen that she changed her name only to show her first name and the initial of her last name.
“Send this to your friends, your sisters, any feminine presenting person that you know, because this could save their life, or, again, prevent an unwanted stalking situation,” Kelly says.
@dinkprogressivedogmom #stitch with @Rhymes with jelly ladies, change your AirDrop name NOW!! #stalker #stalkers #stalkervibes #stalked #stalkerstory #womenbecareful #womenbecarefuloutthere #staysafewomen #murdermystery #murderstory #airdrop #airdropstalker ♬ original sound – Rhymes with jelly
As it turns out, it was good that Kelly had already changed her AirDrop name. In her follow-up video, she shares that she was recently at the airport, and a man gave her his seat so she could charge her computer since he was done using the outlet.
She thanked him and sat down, but within five minutes, he came back and sat next to her. She doesn’t pay much mind to it as she works on her laptop with her large, over-the-ear headphones on. Despite it being obvious that she’s busy, the man continuously makes small talk with her, forcing Kelly to keep lifting her headphones to hear him.
At one point, she has to cut off the conversation.
“Hey, I’m so sorry but I have a deadline, I have to focus on this,” she eventually told him.
He then responded by asking if she’s Kelly R.
“I literally froze like a deer in headlights,” Kelly recalls in the clip. “How do you know that?”
He said that he opened up his AirDrop and saw what he presumed to be her name.
“Change your AirDrop name now,” Kelly instructs viewers.
The video has garnered more than 130,000 views as of Thursday morning, but comments aren’t available for people who aren’t mutual friends with Kelly.
The only visible comment is one from Kelly stating, “I wish women could just exist.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Kelly for comment via TikTok direct message.