back to article Android beefs up Bluetooth tag stalker protections

Google is rolling out two new features to help Android users evade stalkers who abuse Bluetooth tags to surreptitiously track them. The Temporarily Pause Location feature lets users halt location updates sent to Bluetooth trackers via their phone for up to 24 hours. In Google's view, this will allow users to quickly take …

  1. imanidiot Silver badge
    Big Brother

    I'm a luddite

    I refuse to use devices like this as I just don't trust them or their users. So I have all such functionality disabled on my phone. I also usually have BT switched off on my phone unless I'm actively using it further reducing any use of such things.

    Edit: Also, the purported feature of a certain tag being negated from getting tracked by a users phone is kinda pointless if it's still getting tracked by any other phone in the vicinity? Maybe the stalker doesn't have the EXACT location of the victim, but usually they don't need that.

    1. cornetman Silver badge

      Re: I'm a luddite

      Yeah, I'm pretty much the same. Not sure why people wouldn't just switch Bluetooth off when they're not using it: I do. Saves a bit of power as well.

      1. anonymoushindeiru

        Re: I'm a luddite

        The problem is that on almost all modern (within the past 8 years?) Android devices, switching off Bluetooth does not turn it off at all. It is still always scanning in the background and processing the list of devices it finds. The switch is just there for you to easily disconnect from your connected devices. Bluetooth trackers/beacons do not need connections.

        1. cornetman Silver badge

          Re: I'm a luddite

          My Android at least has the additional option "Bluetooth scanning" which allows you to disable this "feature".

          Of course it is switched off.

    2. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

      Re: I'm a luddite

      Thats all fine, but the problem i the bad guys wont ask you if they want to track you... a bit how the bad websites dont ask if you want to take their cookies.

      1. imanidiot Silver badge

        Re: I'm a luddite

        Not broadcasting your presence by scanning for wifi networks or broadcasting a bluetooth connection strongly lessens the ability for "bad guys" to track you. EMCON is a thing at all levels. The true bad guys will use things like IMSI catchers, fake cell networks and persistent targeted malware, but if you're threat assesment is at that sort of level, you probably shouldn't be carrying a (switched on) cell phone. Switching off bluetooth and wifi isn't about foiling nation-state level security threats, it's about stopping marketing execs and data brokers.

  2. Mentat74
    Big Brother

    When will Google add protections against stalking...

    By Google itself ?

    1. DJO Silver badge

      Re: When will Google add protections against stalking...

      Tsk, Google don't "stalk", they "synergistically enrich the user experience" and "employ cutting edge technologies to anticipate user requirements".

      Oh, sorry, you're right, that's the same as stalking.

      1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

        Re: When will Google add protections against stalking...

        Would be interesting how effective Google's ad actually is.

        I have yet to buy anything from any of their ad, the only time ive ever clicked on something was a mistake, and the same goes for most people ive ever asked.

        Im going to say online advertising is the biggest one around online, and worldwide it only is only bested by religion

    2. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

      Re: When will Google add protections against stalking...

      You must be a communist or socialist, we all know as long as someone maakes a dollar it must be good.

  3. Tron Silver badge

    Good for stalking your lost keys.

    You cannot control how a technology is used. If a user does something illegal with it, the law should be there to kick in. Blaming the technology because governments are too cheap to fund proper law enforcement is pathetic. Banning people from useful tech because some abuse it is also pathetic. Offer those who believe they are being stalked appropriate support to gather evidence and fund it from higher fines.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Good for stalking your lost keys.

      There's also plenty positive to be found, but that doesn't get reported. Stolen goods tracked to criminals and fences (no, the people, not where they're chained to), tracking of lost luggage, discovery of recycling fraud - there's quite a lot out there.

  4. JWLong Silver badge

    Not fit for Purpose

    BlueTooth has over 2500 pages in it's standards settings.

    Any wonder why it has so much distrtust in the tech community?

    It's a plle of shit and I don't allow it to run except where absolutely neccessary!(which is hardly ever)

    1. DS999 Silver badge

      Re: Not fit for Purpose

      How many pages is wifi? I assume you keep that disabled all the time too? If not you are gaining nothing by disabling bluetooth.

      1. JWLong Silver badge

        Re: Not fit for Purpose

        As a matter of fact I have WI-FI turned of on all my devices when ever it's not being used.

        When turned on there is no auto-connect allowed.

        And there are times when cell data is disabled.

        Ethernet connections have to be granted every time.

        Fuck RFID and Tap to Pay(to Play Stupid).

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Not fit for Purpose

          Let me guess, you're no fun at parties..

          Joking aside, I do agree in the sense there ought to be ONE setting that says 'kill aal tracking' which executes your list in one go, because that's the major problem: it has become a game of whack-a-mole. Just when you nailed shut one leak someone comes up with another one.

          My favourite one is the Microsoft scam for Windows Hello facial login: few people realise that they are effectively permitting Microsoft to leave the camera on all the time..

      2. andy the pessimist

        Re: Not fit for Purpose

        802.11n standard document is 497 pages long.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Not fit for Purpose

          "These 497 pages left intentionally blank"? lol

    2. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

      Re: Not fit for Purpose

      Dont understand why page length is a measure of anything.

      Everything in this world is a lot of pages, basically every medicine around today must be backed by tens of thousands of pages...

    3. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Not fit for Purpose

      And the Android Bluetooth stack is such an exceptional pile of broken shit, developers complain about it all the time.

      I have a GPS that has a "Bluetooth <-> Android Bluetooth" switch, and it's about the only thing that reliably connects. Headsets, speakers, keyboards, are a crapshoot even after 10 minutes of dicking about. And this is a Pixel 7 Pro, Google's own damn phone. Oh and why do I have this GPS? Because after the latest update, the phone GPS no longer works.

  5. rgjnk Bronze badge

    Protections

    This is nice and all, but their protections seem equally useful for anyone who has nicked your gear and wants to make sure the tag you put on it can be found and binned.

    Be interesting to know the ratio of creepy stalkers to thieving gits this will impact.

    1. doublelayer Silver badge

      Re: Protections

      The harms caused by a stalker are more extreme and more evident. Several people and groups have called for these to be banned entirely because of those risks. The manufacturers of them have decided that restricting them, even if it degrades their usefulness, is more likely to prevent them from being banned. They are probably relying on purchasers not understanding that the devices are more limited in functionality than they appear. There is not a good answer, but the chances are that these will not be useful anti-theft devices after restrictions are finalized. You will have to choose whether they're still useful when they only protect against loss.

    2. Dinanziame Silver badge

      Re: Protections

      The technology is problematic in itself. There are many corner cases and abuses possible. I'm not sure it's possible to design it so that it works when we want to and only when we want to.

      There's a lot of technologies like that though, from end to end encryption to drones. Guns are sometimes useful and often used for crimes. And cars are sometimes used by criminals to escape the police.

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