Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

[Infodataset]

You all believe in police for tech advise thing?

From what i know, they dont even care about security of their software.
They be like:
What, computer hacked? Dont worry, our people data is open source

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I don’t think they should have defaulted to On regardless

Let’s default all features to off so it comes out of the box acting like a Motorola razr from 2006.

 

[Fat_Guy]

I turned it off and it stays off.



It was in the news feed before but I use 5 phones and four different OS all at the same time. Master of none.



You can say this and that and I have to agree to share but the buggy nature of iOS 17 doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I never use AirDrop for example and will never use this - so it gets set to “off”.


The cops and all that, yes I see the argument there, but I find it refreshing that people don’t automatically trust big tech implicitly.

 

[Fat_Guy]

Let’s default all features to off so it comes out of the box acting like a Motorola razr from 2006.

Actually that is not a bad idea from my viewpoint…

 

[JosephAW]

Isn't AirDrop on by default as well?

 

[MacFan782040]

This is your classic chain-letter scare tactic that is spread by boomers on Facebook. It's 100% a non-issue. It's essentially AirDrop that has been around forever. There's plenty of easier ways to accidentally share your info than a single person getting half an inch from your phone, and requiring you to unlock and accept.

 

[TheDailyApple]

I turned it off and it stays off.



It was in the news feed before but I use 5 phones and four different OS all at the same time. Master of none.



You can say this and that and I have to agree to share but the buggy nature of iOS 17 doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I never use AirDrop for example and will never use this - so it gets set to “off”.


The cops and all that, yes I see the argument there, but I find it refreshing that people don’t automatically trust big tech implicitly.

It always makes me laugh when people turn off features saying they don’t trust big tech. If big tech is doing something untrustworthy, I guarantee you it can’t be turned off with a setting, lol.

 

[allenvanhellen]

"The intent of the post was to get parents engaged with their children."

No, you told people to turn off a feature based on a misunderstanding of how it works and a failure to do a quick Google search.

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

So government officals and news sites don't understand how technology actually works?!?! I'm SHOCKED, SHOCKED!
/s

 

[Plutonius]

I'm sure some lawyers are going to start a class action lawsuit.

 

[DaPhox]

Sometimes they should just do more research, because NameDrop is not dangerous at all… I actually know a ton of people who updated just for NameDrop lol.

”A ton of people”?

 

[Chuckeee]

”A ton of people”?

A ton of people = 10 to 15 adults?

 

[SoldOnApple]

I like that iPhones have these features on by default. Explaining to Android users that they need to turn NFC on just to read an NFC business card gets annoying.

 

[histeachn81]

NameDrop works when two iPhones running iOS 17.1 or an iPhone with iOS 17.1 and an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1 are placed right next to each other, as in almost touching. When the two devices come in close contact and both are unlocked, there is a pop up prompting users to share contact information or an image.

So, basically, it’s when iPhones flirt? It’s the get to know you stage? It’s not until later that the phones know each other better and they get “hacked”, if you know what I mean…

 

[svish]

Possible that Apple can set it to 'off' by default in a future iOS release

 

[coolfactor]

If you NameDrop your contact info, hackers can also capture your birth date and Social Security number.

Not sure that your Contact card is the best place to be storing your Social Security Number. Does it have a dedicated field for that, or did you just choose to use it that way? Think of a Contact card as a business card. You wouldn't write your SSN on your business cards, would you? But in the same token, I guess you wouldn't put your birthdate on your business card either.

Does the US issue physical cards for SSNs? You can use Wallet to store any arbitrary card. Maybe that's a safer place?

 

[coolfactor]

Possible that Apple can set it to 'off' by default in a future iOS release

Then it would become a forgotten feature for most people.

 

[coolfactor]

Serious question here.

Does NameDrop check to see if the person whose iPhone is really close to yours already has your contact information in their Contacts before offering to share it with them?

The only thing I would find annoying is getting a pop-up if I accidentally place my iPhone really close to someone's iPhone and they already have a contact card for me on their device.

It can only be used for adding a card, not updating an existing card. So I suspect it would create a duplicate card.

 

[brgjoe]

I don't know how many times in the past couple of days I have seen this "warning" on my feed. Not only by police departments but also by media outlets I follow. It's just amazing how they just run with this sort of stuff without actually checking it out themselves first.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

If you NameDrop your contact info, hackers can also capture your birth date and Social Security number.

You save your SSN in your contact card?

 

[max2]

My SSN is in my head.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Not sure that your Contact card is the best place to be storing your Social Security Number. Does it have a dedicated field for that, or did you just choose to use it that way? Think of a Contact card as a business card. You wouldn't write your SSN on your business cards, would you? But in the same token, I guess you wouldn't put your birthdate on your business card either.

Does the US issue physical cards for SSNs? You can use Wallet to store any arbitrary card. Maybe that's a safer place?

Yeah, people do stupid things like adding their date of birth to their email address, write their passwords on a sticky note they keep under their keyboard, etc.

Name Drop asks you to select what information from your contact card you want to share, so from the same contact card you may just share only your phone and email or also add your home address, etc.

 

[SanderEvers]

Possible that Apple can set it to 'off' by default in a future iOS release

If you turn it off by default it would become entirely useless. (Since it is literally the function to share your contact info with consent with a stranger) And you already always both need to agree with it.

 

[Zoboomafoo]

“If anything, NameDrop has the potential to be more irritating than dangerous, simply because it's likely to activate when your phone is next to someone else's and unlocked, in a situation like a dinner or meeting. Given the negative feedback, Apple may in a future update turn NameDrop off by default, but those who want to disable it now can do so by opening up the Settings app, going to AirDrop, and turning off "Bringing Devices Together."

Did you read your own article? How often do you touch phones accidentally in the first place?

 

[MuppetGate]

"The intent of the post was to get parents engaged with their children."

No, you told people to turn off a feature based on a misunderstanding of how it works and a failure to do a quick Google search.

That was the most embarrassing and unconvincing excuse I’ve read in a long time.