Google’s new ‘Find My’ device network is useful, but it comes with a stalking risk

If you have an Android phone or tablet, Google will soon email you (if it hasn’t already) to say that your device will automatically transmit its location anonymously to compatible gadgets of nearby strangers. It is intended to help find lost devices.

Apple has been doing this for several years with iPhones, Macs, the Apple Watch and other devices. That’s how the AirTags work: by pinging everyone’s nearby Apple devices to triangulate location.

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Google offers you the option to opt out of the company’s similar ‘Find My’ network. What should you do?

My advice: Most people should say yes to Google’s location tracking network.

It will help you locate your Android phone, some Bluetooth headphones or other belongings more easily when lost or stolen. You help other people do the same.

There is an exception. If you think there’s a risk that strangers or someone you know could stalk you, make sure Google doesn’t add your devices to this digital narcotics network. If you don’t say no, your Android devices will be added automatically.

Saying no isn’t rock-solid security, but it does reduce the chance of someone tracking your location if you don’t want them to.

(Instructions to disable this feature for Apple and Android phones are provided at the bottom of this article.)

Google and Apple’s always-on location tracking networks highlight the interplay between many technologies: features that are useful or harmless to most people can pose dangers to others.

One privacy expert said the stalking risks from Apple and Google’s location-emitting networks are so serious that the technologies should not be allowed.

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What are Apple and Google’s ‘Find My’ networks?

Apple and Google have had “Find My” apps and websites for years that let you locate your phone and remotely delete its contents if it’s lost or stolen. They also work for some other devices.

These features typically use multiple signals to estimate your device’s location, including satellite GPS, nearby cell towers, and WiFi connections.

Apple – and Google, as of last month – have gone one step further by adding crowdsourced Bluetooth signals to the mix. The companies are merging all these location tracking technologies into their ‘Find My’ apps.

Unless you disable it, most iPhones and now Android devices will securely transmit their location to any other compatible gadget within a few dozen feet.

This increases the chance that you can track down the location of a lost or stolen phone, even if it is disconnected from cell service or WiFi. (Phone thieves can disable Internet connections to avoid detection.)

Thanks to Bluetooth location tracking, you can also track down lost items that don’t have an internet connection, such as wireless headphones or luggage with an AirTag inside.

Apple and Google’s Bluetooth signals can be more accurate than GPS or cellular location tracking, but they are less effective in sparsely populated areas where there may not be many phones around. Unlike GPS, this Bluetooth location information can be updated slowly.

Do not fully trust the “Find My” services. Location information may be wrong.

And because Apple and Google’s Bluetooth location tracking keeps track of your fairly accurate location, it can be exploited.

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Additional risks for vulnerable people

People have found AirTags hidden in their cars and used to track their whereabouts without permission.

There are pop-up alerts on iPhones and Android phones if you’re being tracked by an AirTag you haven’t set up. The unknown AirTags should also beep. Some people have previously discovered that these safety measures don’t always work.

Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, said Google’s similar location-sharing technology increases the risks.

There are more than a billion Android devices in use, creating yet another massive location tracking dragnet similar to Apple’s.

Cahn fears that people in abusive relationships could be forced to have a partner constantly track their movements via Android devices. He also imagines that someone could slip an Android-compatible pair of wireless headphones into a stranger’s bag as a de facto tracking device.

In a statement, Google said it consulted experts in privacy and domestic violence prevention to limit the stalking risks of its technology.

Unlike Apple’s Bluetooth network, Android devices that automatically report their whereabouts to other devices only do so when you’re in a place like an airport or restaurant with multiple devices nearby.

The idea is that when you’re at home, your location won’t automatically ping to other devices via Bluetooth.

Apple and Google have also teamed up to ensure that both iPhone and Android phones alert you to unwanted Bluetooth tracking devices, at least for compatible models like AirTags and Chipolo.

Cahn personally finds the crowdsourced Bluetooth location monitoring networks useful for locating his own misplaced iPhone and AirPods. But he said Apple and Google technologies are so dangerous to some vulnerable people that they should be temporarily banned.

The location tracking networks “could be a matter of life or death for those experiencing stalking and abuse,” Cahn said. “I wish convenience for some didn’t come at the expense of safety for so many others.”

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To disable these Find My networks:

With an iPhone, tap the Settings app and choose your name at the top of the screen to open your Apple ID settings → Find My → Find My iPhone.

Here you can disable the ‘Find My iPhone’ setting, which allows your device to be located using GPS, cellular signals, and WiFi. If you want to be able to locate a lost phone or remotely delete the contents of a stolen phone, leave that option enabled.

You can only disable the ‘Find My Network’ setting. That’s what allows your device to continuously share its location privately via Bluetooth with nearby strangers’ Apple devices.

The downside is that in some cases you may receive less accurate or no location information if you lose your iPhone.

On an Android phone, open Settings. (Normally, you swipe down from the top of the screen twice to find the gear icon. Or you can search for “Settings” in the Google search bar at the bottom of your screen.)

Then tap Security & Privacy → Device Finders → Find My Device.

You may see an option to “Find your offline devices.” (I didn’t see this option yet on my Android phone. Google said this feature is being rolled out gradually.)

If you disable this, your Android phone won’t send its location to nearby compatible devices. The downside is that in some cases you may receive less accurate or no location information if you lose your phone.

Google automatically sets this feature to send your Android device’s location to nearby gadgets only when you’re in a relatively busy location. You can disable it completely under any circumstances or let the devices broadcast your location to other devices.

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