Apple, Google Working Together to Stop Stalking With AirTag-Like Trackers

pcmag.com:

Apple and Google are joining forces so that both iPhones and Android devices can alert users about rogue AirTag-like devices potentially tracking their location. 

The effort is part of a new industry standard to stop Bluetooth trackers from being abused to stalk people and track their locations. Apple and Google today released a draft of the proposal, which the companies hope all vendors across the tech industry will adopt. 

Apple and Google also said(Opens in a new window): “The first-of-its-kind specification will allow Bluetooth location-tracking devices to be compatible with unauthorized tracking detection and alerts across iOS and Android platforms.”

Hence, Android devices will one day have the built-in capability of detecting rogue, nearby AirTags. Currently, Android users have to go out of their way to download Apple’s Tracker Detect app to help alert them about an AirTag that may have been slipped into their belongings.

But the new industry spec goes beyond just Apple and Google. Instead, it looks like it could enable Android and iOS devices to detect and flag any rogue Bluetooth tracker—so long as all vendors adopt the industry specification. 

“A key element to reducing misuse is a universal, OS-level solution that is able to detect trackers made by different companies on the variety of smartphones that people use every day,” says Center for Democracy & Technology President Alexandra Reeve Givens.

The same proposal also requires participating Bluetooth trackers to “play a sound” when confirmed to be separated from the owner. “It MUST also play sound when a non-owner tries to locate the accessory by initiating a play sound command from a non-owner device when the accessory is in range and connectable through