Image: Midjourney
Google is rolling out an upgraded Find My Device network to Android devices in the United States and Canada, almost one year after it was first unveiled during the Google I/O 2023 conference in May.
Users with Android 9 or later can now use the Find My Device application to locate their phones and tablets—even when offline or with dead batteries, if they're Pixel 8 and 8 Pro devices).
The newly upgraded Find My Device network utilizes the Bluetooth proximity of over one billion active Android devices to help locate lost phones and tablets.
And, starting next month, it will also be possible to locate other items as well, provided that they have a compatible Chipolo or Pebblebee Bluetooth tracker tag attached.
"Nearby Android devices participating in the Find My Device network report the location of the Bluetooth tag," said Dave Kleidermacher, Android Security and Privacy VP Engineering.
"When the owner realizes they have lost their keys and logs into the Find My Device mobile app, they will be able to see the aggregated location contributed by nearby Android devices and locate their keys."
Google has announced that it will soon add support for eufy, Jio, Motorola, and other tags. Upcoming software updates will also make headphones from JBL, Sony, and other vendors trackable via Find My Device.
The new tracking network will also allow Android users to share trackable devices with their friends and family, making it easier to locate them if they go missing.
To make it even faster to find devices you lost around your home, Google's Find My Device app now also displays a lost device's proximity to your home Nest devices for easy reference.
Before bringing the new device tracking network online, Google says it had to ensure that it was designed to protect its users' security and privacy. To do that, the company has implemented measures to protect the privacy of the location data collected through crowdsourcing and ensure the safety of all users in the network.
Safety defenses were also added before launch, including measures to prevent individuals from being tracked to their homes, blocking of crowdsourced location contributions made from users' homes, rate limiting and throttling, and alerts for unknown trackers.
"Multi-layered protections built into the Find My Device network help keep you safe and your personal information private, while keeping you in control of the devices connected to the Find My Device network," said Erik Kay, VP of Engineering.
"This includes end-to-end encryption of location data as well as aggregated device location reporting, a first-of-its-kind safety feature that provides additional protection against unwanted tracking back to a home or private location."
Google has also added the newly introduced Find My Device network to the Android security vulnerability rewards program to take advantage of Android's global ecosystem of security researchers.
Additionally, the company is working alongside select security researchers via its private grant program to further encourage targeted research.
Comments
b1k3rdude - 2 months ago
Im sorry but is it me or are their to many conflicking statesments in this press release? "has implemented measures to protect the privacy of the location data" - er but Google will have a copy of that data? that they will when compeled hand it over to the police without the users consent.
And how exactly can you track a device that has no power, so the pixel 8 has undesclosed tech or they are leveraging NFC/RFID or some other passive tech? So are they going to ask the users of the handsets doing the scanning if they consent to being used..?
Hard pass.
U_Swimf - 2 months ago
This is bull shit and no you arent wrong. This is a rehashed version of Exposure Notifications, remixed, rebadged, and reloaded is all. That's all this tracking technology has ever been because it's worth many tens of billions, probably more when they manage to implement it and get a majority consent without opposition.. Probably each time they do this it's less and less oposition if any, because in retrospect, there are genuinely far more things ppl would rather be focused on or worrying about...
U_Swimf - 2 months ago
" And how exactly can you track a device that has no power, so the pixel 8 has undesclosed tech or they are leveraging NFC/RFID or some other passive tech? So are they going to ask the users of the handsets doing the scanning if they consent to being used..?
Hard pass."
I answered in another comment on this page, but there is tech that allows wireless charging from say an Accesspoint, Router, or other powered Android device that can direct some small percent of energy , but usually just enough to power one sensor last i read.. Thatll change with time though. GPS or satellites can power entire city blocks with a similair tech, but it's again, not going to fast charge anything but coukd definately energize a sensor long enough to get a response sent. look up patents on wireless charging. Years ago bluetooth used to only connect to devices like NFC needed to be right by the other device. Now bluetooth can be extended many blocks using p2p protocols like that amazon neighbor protocol they use.. 'Sidewalk'. There are indeed that many devices.
And yeah bro your pixel 8 has a Lot of hidden unannounced tech in it. My pixel 2 still gets updates after almost 7 years. They just quit notifying you about it and got better at hiding it too. Android 7 only needed a minmum of 70 application packages to work properly. make calls, text, browse.. By Android 9 it was the same but almost trippled the amount of apps ppl could see..
Than by 11 + it was still the same but stopped gauranteeing compatability for devices less than 2gb.. Now Android system files are north of 20gb storage. Devices come with hundreds or tnousands of programs within seemingly a single application. Some of your apps run the equivalent of entirely secluded operating systems. With full asyncronacity. Dependent on it's own time
b1k3rdude - 2 months ago
"- And yeah your pixel 8 has a Lot of hidden unannounced tech in it. My pixel 2 still gets updates after almost 7 years.
- Devices come with hundreds or tnousands of programs within seemingly a single application. Some of your apps run the equivalent of entirely secluded operating systems. With full asyncronacity. Dependent on it's own time"
- I have been a samsung custome-rooted-rom (with Afwall/Xprivacy) and user for years, But I have just bought a P6 to test/install Graphene OS on.
- Whats the beauty of custom roms, and/or debloating of stock roms. You can remove the vast majority of that crap.
Xda Developers are imho the goto, if your interested in either of my above comments.
U_Swimf - 2 months ago
yeah i was doing that song n dance a few years ago. There's not a whole lot i found i couldnt do via shell privledges with far less risk than using root. imho root is far too powerful a thing. if it makes u feel safe, great, but if you arent actively requiring it for development or hacking, then root be like riding a tactical nuke to go to buy groceries lol
fromFirefoxToVivaldi - 2 months ago
>Safety defenses were also added before launch, including measures to prevent individuals from being tracked to their homes, blocking of crowdsourced location contributions made from users' homes, rate limiting and throttling, and alerts for unknown trackers.
Will this make it as bad as the apple equivalent when tracking stolen items? If the thief were to receive a notification about an unknown tracker, it would be pointless.
U_Swimf - 2 months ago
As bad? It's worse because the two work together. That's the only way this works without opposition. Want to sacrafice one, or the other, or both? good luck with that. You wouldnt even be able to sign in to pay your bills or call family since Google and Apple literally indirectly bought AM and FM radio bands to remain connected
b1k3rdude - 2 months ago
Well I found the answer to some of my answers - https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/google-find-my-device-network-rolls-out
So as I suspected if the device is 'complety dead' it 'cannot' send or respond to anything. So the above sentance "even with dead batteries" is willfull disinformation bordering on malice. Google says "users can opting-out of the network completely." but Im guessing doing so means if you loose your phone or it gets stolen, as you didnt 'participate' then your shit of out luck.
Oh and users can stop their home address being agrigated, but you have to give google your address.....
U_Swimf - 2 months ago
ever hear of wireless charging? Dont even need a wireless charger, it could litetally be done from routers or access points, any mobile device able to share it's battery with in distance and enough power itself. .
Plus, they've changed the programming so that phones appear to die with a varying amount of power ACTUALLY left in reserve. I've seen as high as 20% when it first began. You can test it yourself by finding a way to set your device into a kernel panic'd state or FRP'd.
in that deep sleep sorta state with 20% battery, i'd wager a device could last several days just listening for broadcasts or sending an occasional radio ping that it's alive, like a submarine hiding from depth charges. maybe even longer.. Hard to say in real conditions since they're very dynamic
b1k3rdude - 2 months ago
Certainly worth investigating for sure.