Nine years after launch, Tile adds anti-stalking features that AirTag had from the start
Tile is finally introducing anti-stalking features to its trackers, though they still don't go as far as Apple does with AirTags.
Almost a decade after Tile released its first tracking devices, the company has announced its first anti-stalking features. There is still no automatic notification alert, however, and no alarm sound from the trackers themselves, as AirTags have had from launch.
Instead, concerned users will be able to use the updated Tile app to check if there is a Tile nearby.
"[If] you ever feel concerned that someone could be tracking you, we now offer a feature that allows you to determine if that tracking could be through a Tile product," said the company in a blog post. "Scan and Secure, which starts rolling out this week to anyone with the Tile app (even if you do not have a Tile account), will enable you to scan for unknown Tiles or Tile-enabled devices that may be traveling with you."
The Scan and Secure feature therefore requires a potential stalking victim to be aware of Tile, and sufficiently suspect a problem to either have the Tile app, or know it's what they need to download. Tile says, however, that this is "phase one of a long term approach," and that this tool can be of help.
"If someone is a victim of domestic abuse and they are preparing to leave their partner for example," says Erica Olsen, director for the National Network to End Domestic Violence's Safety Net Project, in the announcement, "it's helpful to be able to choose the time and place that's safest for them to proactively check if there is a device on them that could track their location."
"Putting the control in their hands is an important part of increasing safety," says Olsen.
If a user knows of Tile, knows of the app, and uses it to find a rogue tracker following them, the company then recommends "options to consider... so you can make an educated decision that feels safe."
As Apple does, Tile now says that it will cooperate with authorities to identify people using its trackers for "nefarious" purposes. Where Apple says it will comply to law enforcement requests, however, Tile will require "a properly issued court order."
In 2021, Tile was acquired by Life360, a company that at the time was known for selling users' precise location data. It subsequently announced it was ceasing this particular practice, but will seemingly continue selling certain location information.
Life360 later reported to shareholders that Tile sales were down, and specifically blamed the furore over anti-stalking issues that the launch of AirTags highlighted.
Read on AppleInsider
Almost a decade after Tile released its first tracking devices, the company has announced its first anti-stalking features. There is still no automatic notification alert, however, and no alarm sound from the trackers themselves, as AirTags have had from launch.
Instead, concerned users will be able to use the updated Tile app to check if there is a Tile nearby.
"[If] you ever feel concerned that someone could be tracking you, we now offer a feature that allows you to determine if that tracking could be through a Tile product," said the company in a blog post. "Scan and Secure, which starts rolling out this week to anyone with the Tile app (even if you do not have a Tile account), will enable you to scan for unknown Tiles or Tile-enabled devices that may be traveling with you."
The Scan and Secure feature therefore requires a potential stalking victim to be aware of Tile, and sufficiently suspect a problem to either have the Tile app, or know it's what they need to download. Tile says, however, that this is "phase one of a long term approach," and that this tool can be of help.
"If someone is a victim of domestic abuse and they are preparing to leave their partner for example," says Erica Olsen, director for the National Network to End Domestic Violence's Safety Net Project, in the announcement, "it's helpful to be able to choose the time and place that's safest for them to proactively check if there is a device on them that could track their location."
"Putting the control in their hands is an important part of increasing safety," says Olsen.
If a user knows of Tile, knows of the app, and uses it to find a rogue tracker following them, the company then recommends "options to consider... so you can make an educated decision that feels safe."
As Apple does, Tile now says that it will cooperate with authorities to identify people using its trackers for "nefarious" purposes. Where Apple says it will comply to law enforcement requests, however, Tile will require "a properly issued court order."
In 2021, Tile was acquired by Life360, a company that at the time was known for selling users' precise location data. It subsequently announced it was ceasing this particular practice, but will seemingly continue selling certain location information.
Life360 later reported to shareholders that Tile sales were down, and specifically blamed the furore over anti-stalking issues that the launch of AirTags highlighted.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
https://www.gearpatrol.com/tech/g36063168/apple-find-my-compatible-gadgets/
Tile not only has a very large network, it has been very robust since it also supports non-IOS devices and now Tile (and others) have the option of being in the Find My network if they so desire. How is this a bad thing for users?
AirTags could still do with some improvements but that has already been happening at a much faster rate than Tile.
FYI: You can simply select not to receive notifications from specific AirTags about the travelling with you when it pops up on your iPhone. So if a family members AirTag triggers that notification on your iPhone you can easily stop it from appearing again. So those notifications are certainly not endless. But for other reasons it would be great if AirTags worked similar to Family Sharing so that every member of the household could find lost items.
Not sure why you would be getting the "this item has been left behind" message for your car. I have an AirTag on my dog's collar and get that message if I have taken him away from home and he gets too far away from me, but never get that message when I leave home without him. I also have an Airtag in my car and on my key-chain and never get the item left behind for either of those under any circumstances. So seems their is an issue with the way your Airtags are functioning which would get very annoying. But I'm sure there would be a way to fix it by resetting them, searching for a solution online or contacting Apple. It's certainly not normal behaviour.
Sure, they should probably work to integrate into the Find My Network, and maybe they will. But OutdoorAppDeveloper's point stands, that it's Apple's restrictions that prevented Tile from adding the kind of privacy features in the past 9 years that the article is insinuating that Apple is superior for.
Apple had their reasons, no criticism intended, but that works both ways, i.e. it's scummy to criticise Tile for things that were largely out of their control.