I’m curious but cautious about UWB trackers, particularly from a legal perspective. Basically just waiting for the first horror story so we can all find out what loophole was missed.
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We are already extremely trackable - our mobile devices self-report their location and, if necessary, cell tower data can be subpoenaed. However, those are active tracking mechanisms.
UWB tracker tags rely on others who are constantly polling for nearby devices and reporting the device ID and location back to the cloud. This is passive tracking (the UWB tag is not broadcasting its location). For this to work, millions of mobile devices must become a de facto spy network, constantly scanning and reporting the ID of any UWB tag they encounter.
If person A wants to monitor the activity of person B, all person A needs to do is conceal a UWB tag in clothing, a purse, book bag, vehicle, anywhere. It needs minimal or no power and it doesn’t need to broadcast its location. The ”network” of UWB devices (phones) are constantly polling, detecting that tracker, and reporting back the tracker ID and their location. The phones are oblivious to the purpose or intent of that tag. Person A never really had to “spy” on Person B - everyone else did it for them. Even if Apple terminated Person A’s ability to see the tag’s location history, the network of UWB devices are still reporting that tag every time it is encountered.
Phone manufacturers will not want you to disable UWB because it will undermine their efforts to monitor everything humanly possible. Expect victory stories to be brought forth early on about toddlers being rescued from kidnappers because a tag was sewed into a jacket. Later, the backlash will come: cheating spouses will be tracked to a lover’s house and murdered. Congressional hearings will be conducted to ask Apple and others what they’re doing to protect people’s privacy. No power will be relinquished.
