• One Redditor tested Google’s Find My Device network against Apple’s Find My Network by shipping an AirTag and a Pebblebee tracker to a different state and tracking the package through the respective apps.
  • The Pebblebee Tracker struggled to provide location updates, while Apple’s AirTag consistently updated throughout the journey.
  • Google’s Find My Device network is still nascent and opt-in, limiting its effectiveness compared to Apple’s Find My Network. Google is reportedly working on improving its network’s speed and reliability.
    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      76 months ago

      profiling the Bluetooth devices in my house

      Uh, I hope you’re banning anyone with an iPhone from even getting within 10 meters of your house. Because their phone could easily just grab a list of all BT MACs (or hell, even WiFi MACs) it finds and then transmits that with its current GPS coordinates via its cell network. Doesn’t even need your network at all. And your wireless devices have to transmit their MAC addresses to work even if their not in pairing mode.

    • 2xsaiko
      link
      fedilink
      English
      25 months ago

      According to Apple (and I’m sure people have already investigated it), location data is encrypted in such a way that only the owner of the device can read the transmitted location. So no, this isn’t going to “associate your IP address with your location”.

      Only you can see where your AirTag is. Your location data and history are never stored on the AirTag itself. Devices that relay the location of your AirTag also stay anonymous, and that location data is encrypted every step of the way. So not even Apple knows the location of your AirTag or the identity of the device that helps find it.

      (from https://www.apple.com/airtag/)