Summary
After the release of Apple’s AirTags, some people discovered that they could be used to track other people. However, there are positive developments on the horizon. Apple and Google have combined to create a unified standard that will help detect when a tracker is following you.
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As competing tech companies, you rarely see Apple and Google combining to create a single system that works across iOS and Android. However, when it comes to the tracking tags that have been used for stalking, the concerns have been so significant that the two companies have worked together to develop a new industry-wide standard.
For Personal Tech Media, this is Two Minute Tech. I’m Jim Herman.
Apple’s AirTags and other similar tracking devices are intended to help keep track of your personal items, like your keys, wallets, or luggage. However, once AirTags were released, some people found that they made it easy to track others, often without their consent. Since that point, it has been a constant back and forth between Apple and the stalkers.
If you have an Apple device, it can already recognize when an AirTag is following you and give you an alert. However, if you have an Android device or you’re being followed by a tracker that isn’t an AirTag, you won’t get an alert automatically. But hopefully, that will be changing soon.
Under the new specification, any phone will receive notifications automatically if a tracker is following them. Other tracker manufacturers, including Samsung, Tile, and Chipolo, have also expressed support for this new protocol, indicating their devices will likely support the new standard.
While the details are sparse, the initial proposal includes several months for manufacturers to submit ideas and concerns about a possible standard. Apple and Google have both stated they hope to implement it into their mobile operating systems by the end of this year.