Apple and Google are working together to develop an industry-wide specification designed to address safety risks and alert users when they are being tracked without their knowledge or permission using devices such as AirTags. I am working on a draft.
“The first-of-its-kind specification allows Bluetooth location tracking devices to be compatible with rogue tracking detection and alerts across Android and iOS platforms,” the companies said in a joint statement.
These trackers are primarily designed to monitor personal belongings such as keys, wallets, luggage and other items, but such devices are used for criminal and malicious purposes such as stalking, harassment and theft. It is being exploited by malicious people.
The goal is to standardize the alerting mechanism and minimize opportunities for misuse among Bluetooth location tracking devices from different vendors. Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security and Pebblebee are all on board for that.
In doing so, tracking devices manufactured by companies must not only follow a set of instructions and recommendations, but also notify users of unauthorized tracking on iOS and Android devices.
According to the specification, “Formalizing a set of best practices for manufacturers will enable scalable compatibility with unwanted tracking detection techniques on a variety of smartphone platforms, improving personal privacy and security. .”
“Unwanted Tracking Detection not only detects and alerts individuals to location trackers that have been separated from the owner’s device and is moving with them, but also provides a means to find and disable the trackers. You can also.”
A key aspect of the proposed specification is the use of a pairing registry that contains verifiable (but obfuscated) identity information (such as phone number and email address) of the accessory’s owner along with the accessory’s serial number. .
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In addition to retaining data for a minimum of 25 days after the device is unpaired (at which point it will be deleted), the pairing registry is provided to law enforcement upon submission of a valid request.
Additionally, the spec mandates that a tracker transition from “close to owner” mode to “isolated” mode if the tracker is not in proximity to the owner’s paired device for more than 30 minutes. .
The companies are soliciting feedback from stakeholders over the next three months, after which they expect to release production implementations of the Unwanted Tracking Alerts specification in both mobile ecosystems by the end of the year.
Apple and Google’s last collaboration is to come up with a system-level platform that utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to enable contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic without the use of location data. was.
