Apple and Google team up on industry spec to make Bluetooth tracking devices, like AirTag, safer

After numerous cases of Bluetooth trackers like Apple’s AirTag being used for stalking or other criminal apps, Apple and Google today released a joint announcement saying they will work together to lead an industry-wide initiative to draft a specification that would alert users in the case of unwanted tracking from Bluetooth devices. The companies said they’re seeking input from other industry participants and advocacy groups in the matter, and noted that other tracker makers like Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security and Pebblebee have also expressed interest in the draft.

The companies submitted a proposed specification as an Internet-Draft via a standards development organization, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Other interested parties are now being invited to review and comment over the next three months. After this time, Apple and Google will offer feedback and will release a production implementation of the specification by year’s end that will be supported in future versions of iOS and Android, they said.

While Apple’s AirTag wasn’t the first Bluetooth tracker on the market to present security concerns around misuse — Tile and others had existed for years — Apple’s ability to integrate AirTag with the 2 billion+ Apple devices globally, including its over 1 billion iPhones, as part of its “Find My” network, made it one of the largest players almost immediately. It also popularized the then-still niche technology of using Bluetooth trackers to find lost items, making the devices for doing so a household name.