AirTag Android App Only Solves Half Of The Privacy Problem

AirTag Android App Only Solves Half Of The Privacy Problem

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Apple’s Tracker Detect app wants Android users to proactively scan for a stalker AirTag in their surroundings rather than warning them on its own.

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AirTag Android App Only Solves Half Of The Privacy Problem

Apple has finally released an Android app that will let users know if an AirTag has been secretly planted on them, but it only solves half the problem. Before delving into the scary details, it is worth briefly glossing over the need for such an app in the first place. Apple is not a big fan of sharing its hardware goodness outside its proverbial walled garden ecosystem. The Apple Watch is the best example of Apple’s love for exclusivity. But when it comes to the AirTags, they opened more than a few gates of privacy nightmares.

The situation was especially grave for those without an iPhone, or more specifically, folks rocking an Android phone. AirTags don’t talk to an Android device, which means their tracking business is useless here. However, AirTags can definitely be deployed to track Android phone users secretly. And without access to tools like “Unknown Items” in the Find My app, Android users are at risk of being stalked easily.

And this is where Apple’s Tracker Detect app for Android phones comes into the equation. It will let users scan their surroundings for a sneaky AirTag planted on them to monitor their movements or trace their whereabouts. But there’s a huge problem here. The Android app doesn’t look for a stalker’s AirTag on its own. Nope. Users have to fire up the app and perform a manual scan to look for an AirTag, which can be anywhere from a small pocket in their backpack or the underside of a skateboard to a study desk or car.

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A Half-Hearted Safeguard

In simple words, it is up to the Android phone user to keep scanning for an Apple tracker every now and then. But that defeats the whole purpose of having such an anti-tracking solution in the first place. And that’s also not how stalking works because the victim is not supposed to know or suspect that a tracking device has been planted on them. Apple is essentially banking on a specific element called gut feeling, which can loosely be defined as a physical manifestation of human intuition that is not always accurate and has more to do with spirituality than reality. Spirituality won’t save users from covertly tracking using a button-sized Apple device. Take, for example, car thefts that are now being executed with some help from the AirTags and a dash of criminal ingenuity.

An AirTag can take up to 15 minutes before it pops up on a scan once it has been separated from its original owner. So, even if the victim gets suspicious after meeting a bad actor, they won’t be able to spot the hidden tracking device using the Android app’s scanning feature. Of course, one might argue that a feature like round-the-clock automatic scanning in the Tracker Detect app for Android will take a toll on the phone’s battery life, and it’s a legit concern too. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the potential for privacy intrusion is very much real here, and part of it falls on Apple and its closed ecosystem tactics.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/airtag-android-app-privacy-problem-explained/

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