Google, Apple submit plan to combat AirTag stalking, deter secret surveillance

Apple and Google are working in collaborationto stopunwanted tracking through AirTags and similar gadgets.Both companies submitted a proposal to establish guidelines to detersecret surveillance on the Bluetooth devices that were created to help people find lost keys, keep tabs on luggage or locateor find other items that are prone to get misplaced.

The concept also has the support ofSamsung,which sells the maximum number of Android smartphones worldwide,and the manufacturersof tracking products similar to the AirTag, such as Tile, Chipolo, and Pebblebee.

Since its release in 2021, the $30 AirTag has tremendously grown in popularity. However, police have received reports of stalkers using the gadgets to follow people who have previously been romantically involved with them and other people who are unaware they are being followed.

“Bluetooth trackers have created tremendous user benefits, but they also bring the potential of unwanted tracking, which requires industrywide action to solve,” said Dave Burke, Google’s vice-president of engineering for Android who spoke to the Guardian.

Apple, too, has taken cognisance of the issue and the possibilityof the devices being misused. The company has responded by launchingvarious features, including notifications that warn iPhone owners if a location tag that is not associated with their devices is travelling with them and an app to detect unwanted AirTag tracking for Android devices.

But Apple and Google now want to go a step aheadwith a new industry standard that they say will help curbsurveillance.

The two companieswould release the solutionvia software upgrades for iPhones and Android phones, which would be distributed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an agency that develops internet standards.

Erica Olsen, senior director of the Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence, praised the initiative to establish an industry standard because she thinks it will help shield victims of abusive relationships and other peoplewho have been the target of stealth technology.

“These new standards will minimize opportunities for abuse of this technology and decrease the burden on survivors in detecting unwanted trackers,” Olsen said.

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