{"id":10786,"date":"2022-03-31T00:44:40","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T00:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1383596"},"modified":"2022-03-31T00:44:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T00:44:40","slug":"android-may-soon-have-built-in-protection-against-airtags-stalking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=10786","title":{"rendered":"Android may soon have built-in protection against AirTags stalking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Apple<\/a>\u2018s AirTags are really good at finding misplaced items<\/a>, but that same ability makes them an alarmingly effective stalking too<\/a>l in the wrong hands. And while the company has implemented numerous ways of alerting iOS users<\/a> about nefarious AirTags use, Android<\/a> users remain at risk unless they download and pro-actively check Apple\u2019s Tracker Detect app<\/a> (or third-party alternatives).<\/p>\n

Google<\/a> might now be working on a native solution to protect against stalking by AirTags and similar tracking devices. As spotted by 9to5Google<\/a>, version 22.12.13 of Google Play Services includes code referencing \u2018Unfamiliar device alerts\u2019 and \u2018Unfamiliar Tag Detected Notification.\u2019<\/p>\n

There are also specific strings referencing \u2018Tile tag\u2019 and \u2018ATag,\u2019 the latter presumably meaning AirTags. There\u2019s also a third mention of a \u2018Finder Tag,\u2019 which could be an unreleased device or a stand-in for trackers in general.<\/p>\n

9to5Google also notes that you might be able to manually ring these tags on your phone to quickly locate them, and it appears these new features might make their way to Android\u2019s \u2018safety & emergency\u2019 settings menu.<\/p>\n

While we can\u2019t confirm the feature will be publicly available anytime soon, Apple has all but forced Google\u2019s hand here.<\/p>\n

AirTags aren\u2019t inherently bad, nor is their hardware dramatically superior to similar devices. But, as my colleague Callum Booth recently wrote<\/a>, the problem is that AirTags \u201chave normalized and popularized trackers in a way we\u2019ve never seen before,\u201d a fact made more troubling by Apple\u2019s massive Find My network, especially in urban settings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apple users are warned about nearby AirTags by default via multiple notifications, significantly minimizing the risk<\/a> of long-term stalking. But there\u2019s so far been no such functionality in Android, leaving the majority of smartphone users vulnerable unless they take proactive steps to look for tracking devices. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully, automated tracker detection comes sooner rather than later. As trackers become more popular than ever, it\u2019ll take coordination by the tech industry at large to minimize harm as much as possible. We\u2019ve contacted Google for more information and will update this post if we hear back.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple\u2018s AirTags are really good at finding misplaced items, but that same ability makes them an alarmingly effective stalking tool in the wrong hands. And while the company has implemented numerous ways…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}