Alphabet Inc-owned Google and Apple said they were working together to curb unwanted tracking of people by Bluetooth devices such as AirTags used for finding lost items.
The companies together have submitted a draft with specifications that will require all Bluetooth location-tracking devices to alert users of any unauthorized tracking on both iOS and Android devices.
The specification has been submitted as an Internet-Draft via the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a leading standards development organization. Interested parties are invited and encouraged to review and comment over the next three months.
Following the comment period, Apple and Google will partner to address feedback, and will release a production implementation of the specification for unwanted tracking alerts by the end of 2023 that will then be supported in future versions of iOS and Android.
Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security, and Pebblebee have expressed support for the draft specification.
Feedback from device manufacturers as well as various safety and advocacy groups has been integrated into the specifications, the companies said, adding that have support from companies such as Samsung Electronics and consumer electronics company Tile.
Since the launch of AirTags, privacy experts and law enforcement have said some people use it for criminal or malicious purposes.
AirTags are intended to be slipped into or attached to keys, wallets, backpacks and other items so people can find them when they are lost.
In an effort to boost privacy, Apple in 2021 had launched an Android detector app to help users scan nearby AirTags or other similar item trackers that might be traveling with them without their knowledge.
Earlier in 2020, Apple and Google also said they would ban the use of location tracking in apps that use a contact tracing system meant to help slow the spread of the corona-virus.
Ron Huang, Apple’s vice president of Sensing and Connectivity. “We built AirTag and the Find My network with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking — a first in the industry — and we continue to make improvements to help ensure the technology is being used as intended.
“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.
