Apple and Google deliver support for unwanted tracking alerts in iOS and Android

lautan@lemmy.ca to Technology@lemmy.world – 156 points – Apple and Google deliver support for unwanted tracking alerts in iOS and Android
apple.com

Apple and Google have teamed up to deliver support for unwanted Bluetooth tracking alerts in iOS and Android.

15

steal bag
get notified on my phone that there’s a tracker in there
helps me disable the tracker

Thanks mega corps 👍

“over time” is key in the description of how this works. I went on a work trip with a colleague recently and it was only about 24 hours after we met up that my phone notified me there was an AirTag following me, because she had one on her car keys. You wouldn’t be notified straight away.

Yeah. A bag thief would take the valuables and toss the bag pretty quick.

I mean, stalking seems more common than using this for anti-theft

Google did not put it in Android. They put it in Google Services Framework. Ironically, GSF is the first part you rip out to protect your privacy.

This for tracking taggers like the thing Apple has, whatever it's called. Not data tracking

Their point is that GSF also does a lot of privacy-invasive stuff

The article isn’t talking about Apple or Google adding privacy-invasive stuff. It's talking about protections being put in place To prevent you from being tracked by things like Apple’s Airtags

I think you're missing the point.

The google service that is being used for the airtag alert is one of the main ones google uses to track you. Many privacy conscious individuals have disabled this service.

Now the choice is

A) disable service to prevent google from spying on you, but risk being tracked by an airtag.

B) keep the service to prevent being tracked by an airtag, but also allow google to spy on you.

Its a loose-loose scenario.

You can also just install or create a third party app to do the same thing.

There is one. It's called "AirGuard" and it has been around for a while now. I'm using it on GrapheneOS.

GSF is where most of Google's invasive user tracking happens. It's proprietary, closed source and is not part of AOSP (Android Open Source Project). It is, by definition, spyware.