This is our “Get along carabiner.”
We definitely have a tracker problem. Apple’s AirTags have been misused for tracking people, not keeping track of lost things. As it turns out, AirTags are actually safer than Tile trackers, according to one person’s testing. Tile trackers rely on the Tile Network, which includes Amazon Sidewalk devices and devices with the Tile app installed, while Apple’s Find My network works on all iOS devices. Apple’s network isn’t just larger, it’s more widespread. You can find it outside of residential areas where you may find Alexa devices, and even in a car. It’s a network that travels with people too, so if you dropped your keys in your friend’s car, their phone will be able to tell you where you left them.
However, all of these networks have the same flaws. Namely, they’re easy to exploit for stalking purposes. If you’re an Android user, you’re exceptionally vulnerable to tracing from Apple’s AirTags, as the app requires that you remember to constantly scan. It doesn’t perform background scans. Android users will also need to know about the app. As for Tile tracking, anyone can download the Tile app.
If you’re keeping track, you have to download multiple apps—and check them frequently—to be sure you don’t have a stalker. This is too much. Companies need to work together to make an app or service that can scan for any tracking device. These companies have created something potentially dangerous with no reasonable workaround. We need a universal tracking protection solution.
A Tracker Tracker Standard
We don’t necessarily need to force all devices on the same network. While it would make tracking more efficient for everyone, it’s simply not what companies will want. They’ll want to be able to sell more than a tracker that connects to a universal network. They’ll want to own the network so they can sell it as a feature. Once again, profits are getting in the way of consumer safety.
However, we don’t need to get them to change their networks entirely. We just need their trackers to also work as a universal beacon, like Bluetooth beacons in stores. This could be a simple message, one including the owner of the tag in a hashed and encrypted format. If the hash doesn’t match your own, and it’s with you for an extended period of time, your device will alert you. Devices could only start to send out messages over this network if they’re lost, no longer in range of their owner. This wouldn’t contact a home server, just nearby devices. If they can read the signal, they’ll know they’re being tracked.
This would require some logic on the trackers themselves. First to notice when they’re not near their owner, then to send out a message to all Bluetooth devices in the area that a device is nearby. Still, this is asking companies nicely to add a standard, and a simple one at that. That likely won’t happen without an agreement between companies or new laws.
Third Party “Catch-All” Apps
The other option is a third party app that could spy on all the networks. This is one that companies would especially reject. Still, such an app could stay in the background, scanning for all the possible tracking items, and letting you know if it finds any. Truthfully, it would likely waste a lot of battery life, especially if the number of devices it has to scan for grows. It’s not the best option, that’s why we need a universal tracker service.
The only way we’re going to get tracking under control is if every single person can detect at least a majority of the trackers in the background on their phones. That’ll only happen if these devices can also act as Bluetooth beacons when they’re lost, interacting with all Bluetooth receiving devices. Unless companies are forced to work on a standard together, they won’t. With the attention they’re getting, including from legislators, perhaps this nightmare of secret tracking devices will finally come to a close.