Google will add native support for AirTag and other abusive bluetooth trackers

Launched last year as a universal accessory for tracking and retrieving lost objects as needed, Apple AirTag has created more problems than it solves, with cheap and highly efficient technology being promptly hijacked for all sorts of clandestine activities, from spying to individuals to marking “targets” for future car thefts.

Apple’s AirTags allow users to track and retrieve important items they need, such as house / car keys or travel luggage. All by using a miniature accessory, which once configured can work for years without the need for charging. In response to vehement criticism from all quarters, Apple has announced concrete measures to prevent the use of AirTag tags as spy tools, with changes to iOS devices through firmware updates ensuring that misuse is promptly reported to the potentially injured party.

However, on Android, AirTags and other similar devices that use Bluetooth technology as a GPS alternative have remained invisible, with users who consider themselves vulnerable having to install dedicated applications for preventive detection.

Even more compact and self-contained over the years, devices slightly larger than a coin allow you to locate and document your movements for any object or person to which it is attached, using nothing more than an intermittently transmitted Bluetooth signal. Proper detection is provided by any other iPhone within range of the Bluetooth connection, which only reports the identity and location of the tag detected in the network managed by Apple.

Returning to Android, Google’s ecosystem is even more numerous than Apple’s, with a possible AirTag alternative offering at least the same detection capabilities, if not more. Thus, we can assume that Google is either planning to launch such a product in the near future, or to close the security gap left by the use of AirTag devices, with or without the knowledge of Android phone owners.

According to the description extracted from the code of the latest version of the Google Play Services component (22.12.13), the functionality for detecting bluetooth tags is of the “unfamiliar device alerts” type, probably for announcing unknown tags detected nearby.

Once completed, the functionality could be added to the Safety & emergency section of the Settings menu, it remains to be seen whether it will be checked automatically, or only proposed to users concerned about protecting their privacy.