Apple and Google collaborated to make Bluetooth tracking devices safer, including the Apple AirTag.
Apple and Google announced Tuesday that they are working together to prevent people from using trackers, like Apple 's AirTag , to track people without their permission.
Google and Apple have teamed up to draft a new industry standard that will add the ability to warn victims about unwanted trackers like AirTag to Android and iOS, the companies said.
See also: Apple employee who defrauded the company sentenced to three years in prison
Apple 's AirTag is intended to help people find lost items, like keys, by displaying the item's location in near real-time within an iPhone app. However, since it went on sale in 2021, there have been numerous reports of the $30 coin-sized device being used to track people.
In response, Apple previously built detection features into iPhones that allow users to locate any unknown AirTags in their area.
Tuesday's announcement suggests that Android phones will soon gain the ability to warn their users if they are being tracked by an AirTag .
The companies announced Tuesday that the new standard requires the implementation of “unauthorized tracking detection and notifications” on Android and iOS.
The proposed specification (standard) includes some best practices for makers of Bluetooth trackers , which should help prevent “misuse” of location trackers that expose users to harassment and theft. As described in the document, unwanted tracking detection should “detect and notify individuals” when a tracker that has been separated from its owner is traveling with them and provide instructions for locating and disabling the device.
See also: Apple: Problems with the first Rapid Security Response (RSR) patches?
Apple and Google said the features will be completed by the end of 2023 and then implemented “in future versions of iOS and Android” on trackers like the AirTag .
Google and Apple 's change will allow others who make such trackers (AirTag), such as suppliers Samsung or Tile , to create similar notification features for iPhone and Android .
Source: cnbc.com
