Apple and Google team up together to address unwanted tracking
Apple and Google are working together to fight against people who use tracking devices like AirTags to stalk or track others without their permission. Check all details here.
FollowApple and Google are working together to fight against people who use tracking devices like AirTags to stalk or track others without their permission. They have developed a new set of guidelines (known as a "industry specification") to assist prevent the abuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices.
This new set of regulations will make Bluetooth location-tracking gadgets compatible with both iOS (Apple's iPhone operating system) and Android (Google's operating system for many other handsets).
This implies that if someone tries to use a tracking device to stalk or monitor someone else without their permission, both iOS and Android smartphones will identify it and notify the victim. Several other companies, including Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security, and Pebblebee, have agreed to follow these new rules and incorporate anti-stalking features into their own tracking devices.
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Bluetooth location-tracking devices employ crowdsourced discovery networks to assist users find personal objects such as keys, purses, baggage, and more. They can, however, be abused for unwanted surveillance of persons.
The specification was submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a renowned standards development organisation, as an Internet-Draft. Over the next three months, interested parties are invited and encouraged to review and comment. Following the comment period, Apple and Google will collaborate to address feedback, and by the end of 2023, they will release a production implementation of the specification for unwanted tracking alerts, which will then be supported in future versions of iOS and Android.
There have been far too many reports of people stalking their ex-partners, acquaintances, and family members using Apple AirTags. In most cases, the AirTag or other tracking device was hidden in the victim's purse or automobile without their awareness.
Apple and Google's partnership is a key step forward in safeguarding customers from unwanted surveillance and exploitation of Bluetooth location-tracking devices.
