One of the latest innovations announced at Google I/O 2024 is the arrival, also on Android, of a very useful function already present on Apple devices, from iPhones to iPads: it is the possibility of using other people’s phones to trace back one’s. Google calls this feature “Find My Device Network” and, in practice, it is the extension of a function that has already been present for years. Except, now, it becomes much more powerful and effective.
Network Find my device
With an email sent to its Android users, Google announced the arrival of the new one Find My Device networknot to be confused with the function that has already existed for several years.
Find my devicein fact, already exists and consists in the possibility of tracking a phone anywhere in the world, in case of theft or loss, but only if the device is turned on and connected to the Internet.
With the new network, however, all that is needed is for the device to be turned on and it no longer needs to be online: it just needs to have the Bluetooth activated. This way it can be detected, anonymouslyfrom about a billion other Android devices around the world, which will communicate its location to Google.
With this system, other devices with a Bluetooth connection can also be tracked, such as ear phonesThe smartwatches hey trackerswhich however will only be a part “passive” of this global network as they can be tracked by other devices, but not also used to track other devices.
Privacy guaranteed
This huge one global network of devices that recognize and locate each other could cause different privacy issueswhich Google has promised to surpass encrypting the data detected.
To unlock the data you will need to enter the PINthe sequence or the password of the device, so only those who already have access to the stolen or missing device will then be able to trace it via the Find My Device network. So much so that it is not possible to use this new system to track a device if you have not first set up a protection and blocking method.
But not only that: Google ensures that not even i devices that have located the device that you are looking for will be identifiable and this, for privacy, is equally important because it protects the confidentiality of people who, most likely, have nothing to do with the lost or stolen device.
