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

Apple and Google are actively collaborating to prevent unauthorized tracking via AirTags and other similar devices. The Bluetooth-enabled gadgets are developed to help users find lost keys, track luggage, or locate things that are frequently lost. Both firms presented a proposal to set rules to prevent hidden surveillance by the tracking gadgets.

Samsung, the company which sells the most Android smartphones globally, as well as the makers of monitoring devices similar to the AirTag like Tile, Chipolo, and Pebblebee, embraces the idea.

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, reports The Guardian.

“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 news agency.

Apple, too, has taken cognisance of the issue and the possibility of the devices being misused. The company has responded by launching various 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 ahead with a new industry standard that they say will help curb surveillance.

The two companies would release the solution via 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 people who 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.

The draft is open to comments and recommendations from interested parties for the next three months.