Google’s tracking network "Find My Device" is set to improve. To this end, Google is already adding the settings to the Android setup wizard for Pixel 10. However, on many Android devices, the wizard does not run retroactively – here; users have to take action themselves and enable participation. With an optimized setting, it could be possible to raise the usefulness to the level of Apple’s "Find My" network or even surpass it in a very short time.

The settings for "Find My Device" are somewhat hidden in Android.

(Image: heise medien)

Google’s approach currently offers special privacy protection. The function was announced by Google in May 2024 with a note on Android smartphones and also activated, provided that those affected had not changed the default settings. However, the default configuration uses the option "With network only in highly frequented locations." This means that several Android devices must have detected and reported a Bluetooth tracker, for example, for it to appear in the tracking network now renamed "Find Hub".

Setting change for tracking even in remote areas

Unfortunately, Google has hidden the configuration for this quite well. It is located under "Settings" – "Google", where the "All services" button must first be selected. There, under "Personal safety & device security", you will find the options "Notifications about unknown Bluetooth trackers" and "Find My Device" – the renaming to "Find Hub" has not yet arrived in the German interface. There, interested parties can finally set the configuration to "Find devices that are offline" to "With network everywhere" so that devices can also be found in less frequented locations.

If more Android users activate this option, trackers can be detected even if only a single Android smartphone has seen it. The better privacy protection through aggregated data (i.e., the option to only show trackers in highly frequented locations) relates to location information that could potentially allow conclusions about a person from a single reporting Android device. However, for the vast majority of users, this should not be a serious problem. Google states Android version 6 as a prerequisite for using "Find My Device."

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The tracker networks can also be misused by criminals. At the end of 2023, for example, it was possible to exfiltrate data such as passwords using a manipulated keylogger keyboard via Apple’s "Find My" network. Google has now given Android an improved protection against covert Bluetooth tracking, with which malicious actors could prepare crimes or stalk people, for example.

(dmk)

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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.