Google launches ‘Find My Device’ with privacy protections against stalking

Google has finally unveiled its Find My Device service, which uses a crowdsourced network to discover the location of devices and Bluetooth trackers that may not have internet connection.

Much like iOS’s Find My service, the new network is able to locate smartphones even when they are turned off, or detect trackers attached to key or wallets.

Find My Device comes years after Apple’s service was launched in 2019. It quickly raised several privacy issues arising from the tracking of a user’s exact location without them being notified that they are being tracked. On several occasions, Apple’s AirTags were used for stalking purposes, prompting criticism that the company had not done its due diligence before rolling out the new network. 

In its announcement, Google noted that Find My Device was “secure by default and private by design”. It has taken numerous measures to try and avoid the kind of bad press faced by Apple’s alternative soon after launch.

This includes encrypting all location data and, by default, requiring multiple nearby Android devices to detect a tag before reporting its location to the tag’s owner. This makes it more difficult to track specific users without their consent.

If a user has chosen to save their home address in their Google Account, their Android device will also ensure that it does not contribute crowdsourced location reports to the Find My Device network when it is near the user’s home. 

Google has also made it compliant with joint industry standards for unwanted tracking. This means that both Android and iOS users will receive unknown tracker alerts if the on-device algorithm detects that someone may be using a compatible tag to track their location without their knowledge.

Android users will have control over which of their devices participate in the network and how they participate. Users can either stick with the default and contribute to aggregated location reporting, opt into contributing non-aggregated locations, or turn the network off altogether. Find My Device also provides the ability to secure or erase data from a lost device.

The ability to discover smartphones that have been turned off is currently limited to Google’s Pixel 8 devices, which have specialised hardware to enable the feature, although other smartphones could be supported in the future.

Chipolo and Pebblebee will launch the first few devices that are compatible with the network in May: these include tracking tags to attach to keyrings and bags, as well as wallet-shaped trackers.