Security News > 2023 > May > Apple, Google propose anti-stalking spec for Bluetooth tracker tags

Apple and Google have come together to develop an industry specification to prevent "Unwanted tracking," otherwise known as stalking, via Bluetooth location tracking tags.

Though Tile has been selling Bluetooth Low Energy wireless tracking tags for a decade, it wasn't until 2021, when Samsung introduced its Galaxy SmartTag and Apple introduced its AirTag, that reports of abuse of the devices became commonplace.

On Tuesday, Apple and Google called for the adoption of a proposed specification to standardize unwanted tracking alerts across different vendors' devices.

"Find My after power off turns shutdown iPhones into tracking devices by design, and the implementation within the Bluetooth firmware is not secured against manipulation. Tracking properties could stealthily be changed by attackers with system-level access."

In an email, Nishant Bhaskar, a University of California San Diego doctoral candidate who co-authored another research paper on Bluetooth Low Energy tracking attacks, told The Register, "I believe this alliance between Apple and Google is a step in the right direction. Bluetooth location trackers being misused for stalking represent an immediate danger and a major chunk of today's overall BLE tracking threat; this universal standard does provide a mechanism to address this issue across mobile system vendors."

"Today all of our personal devices are constantly sending Bluetooth beacons, and so there are other BLE tracking threats also such as physical layer tracking that also should be looked into. That said, I do believe that such industry partnerships sets us up well for investigating and addressing other Bluetooth tracking threats also." .

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/05/02/apple_google_antistalking_bluetooth/