Tile Adds Undetectable Anti-Theft Mode to Tracking Devices, With $1 Million Fine If Used for Stalking

[MacRumors]

AirTag competitor Tile today announced a new Anti-Theft Mode for Tile tracking devices, which is designed to make Tile accessories undetectable by the anti-stalking Scan and Secure feature.

Scan and Secure is a security measure that Tile implemented in order to allow iPhone and Android users to scan for and detect nearby Tile devices to keep them from being used for stalking purposes. Unfortunately, Scan and Secure undermines the anti-theft capabilities of the Tile because a stolen device's Tile can be located and removed, something also possible with similar security features added for AirTags.

Tile's Anti-Theft Mode disables Scan and Secure so a Tile tracking device will not be able to be located by a person who does not own the tracker. To prevent stalking with Anti-Theft Mode, Tile says that customers must register using multi-factor identification and agree to stringent usage terms, which include a $1 million fine if the device ends up being used to track a person without their consent.

The Anti-Theft Mode option is meant to make it easier to locate stolen items by preventing thieves from knowing an item is being tracked. Tile points out that in addition to Anti-Theft Mode, its trackers do not notify nearby smartphone users when an unknown Bluetooth tracker is traveling with them, making them more useful for tracking stolen items than AirTags. Apple has added alerts for nearby AirTags to prevent AirTags from being used for tracking people.

Unlike other Bluetooth trackers on the market, namely AirTags, Tile does not notify nearby smartphone users when an unknown Bluetooth tracker is traveling with them. These proactive notifications can communicate to thieves that a tracker is on the stolen item, allowing them to remove it and making recovering the item less likely. Some competitor products go as far as to issue an audible beep once the tracker has been separated from its owner, making it clear that a tracker is present and enabling thieves to find it with precision. The proactive notifications found in the Bluetooth tracker industry were designed to prevent stalking; however, these anti-stalking measures have been criticized for being insufficient for victim protection. Instead, these alerts have the possibility of making Bluetooth trackers easily identifiable by thieves.

Enabling Anti-Theft mode will require users to link a government-issued ID card to their Tile account, submitting to an "advanced ID verification process" that uses a biometric scan to detect fake IDs.

The ID sync is meant to deter people from using Tile trackers for stalking or other nefarious purposes. Tile says that any individual convicted of using Tile devices to illegally track another individual without their consent will be fined $1 million, wording that is in the Tile terms of service. Tile says it is also taking a "highly collaborative stance" with law enforcement, and users who turn on Anti-Theft Mode acknowledge that their personal information "can and will" be shared with law enforcement officials in cases of suspected stalking.

Tile claims that these usage terms are "progressive safety measures" that will protect people from being stalked with Tile devices.

Anti-Theft Mode is rolling out to Tile users starting today, and will be available to all users in the coming weeks.

Article Link: Tile Adds Undetectable Anti-Theft Mode to Tracking Devices, With $1 Million Fine If Used for Stalking

 

[gleepskip]

Tile is now law enforcement? I'd love to see them defend that nonsense fine in court.

 

[roguedaemon]

Tile is now law enforcement? I'd love to see them defend that nonsense fine in court.

Exactly. This will not end well...

 

[marekkurlmann]

Million-dollar incentive not to get caught.

 

[KaliYoni]

…a $1 million fine if the device ends up being used to track a person without their consent.

That makes great PR but I would love to see how Tile plans to actually collect such a fine from a user. And who gets the money? Tile’s VCs? Tile’s current owner (Life360)? Tile’s annual holiday party fund?

 

[socialwill]

A 1-million-dollar ToC fine? Not sure how this would hold up in court in some locations.

I get the part of being convicted, that is a law enforcment action. But a lawsuit for 1 million for breaking a ToC could allow any company to setup million dollar fines for doing something they did not approve of.

 

[paull.vu]

looks like Tile is better than Airtags for this reason 🤷🏻 any thief can just trash your airtag once they get notified of it 🤦🏻

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

$1 Million Dollars is too much for stalking. Good luck getting that. Also, who’s going to enforce it? 🤥

 

[tennisproha]

This is interesting but is it enforceable? and by whom, Tile or LE?

 

[coolfactor]

looks like Tile is better than Airtags for this reason 🤷🏻 any thief can just trash your airtag once they get notified of it 🤦🏻

Welcome the party, Paul. Yes, that's the entire point of this... Tile is trying to one-up Apple in terms of their trackers being "better". It's a marketing strategy more than anything else. It's unclear how they plan to enforce such a fine once someone is convicted of stalking.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Interesting PR play.

 

[gsurf123]

Most people in the stalking trade do not have a million dollars.

 

[Izauze]

$1 Million Dollars is too much for stalking. Good luck getting that.

Looks like we found the stalker

 

[goobot]

The million dollar fine is just a deterrent. Your id is linked to it so regardless of money the government can send you to jail and I doubt tile really cares about the mill

 

[rafark]

Tile is now law enforcement? I'd love to see them defend that nonsense fine in court.

What they’re doing doesn’t even sound legal.

 

[WoodTableFromIkea]

The million dollar fine is just a deterrent. Your id is linked to it so regardless of money the government can send you to jail and I doubt tile really cares about the mill

Good luck trying that Mac Rumours forum users understand that.

 

[paull.vu]

Welcome the party, Paul. Yes, that's the entire point of this... Tile is trying to one-up Apple in terms of their trackers being "better". It's a marketing strategy more than anything else. It's unclear how they plan to enforce such a fine once someone is convicted of stalking.

Definitely a scare tactic because being caught at this point is up to how well one hides it.

 

[notabadname]

The fine can’t be implemented if you are not caught. So some person is stalking some other person . . . Yet that person is not aware of being stalked . . . There is no fine. Someone could be stalked (and a high percentage likely are) and not be aware for weeks, months, a year. The criminal could even take the tracker back if upon believing the subject were becoming suspicious. The ”threat” of a million dollar fine is not going to deter the typical blindly obsessed stalker. This is a terrible idea.

 

[antiprotest]

Looks like a big mess and things can go wrong in several ways.

 

[paull.vu]

The fine can’t be implemented if you are not caught. So some person is stalking some other person . . . Yet that person is not aware of being stalked . . . There is no fine. Someone could be stalked (and a high percentage likely are) and not be aware for weeks, months, a year. The criminal could even take the tracker back if upon believing the subject were becoming suspicious. The ”threat” of a million dollar fine is not going to deter the typical blindly obsessed stalker. This is a terrible idea.

Bad actors will definitely be switching to Tile 🤣

 

[acorntoy]

That makes great PR but I would love to see how Tile plans to actually collect such a fine from a user. And who gets the money? Tile’s VCs? Tile’s current owner (Life360)? Tile’s annual holiday party fund?

No Cooks this year boys! Were going for the Dom.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

What if somebody steals my Tile and uses it to “stalk” someone? How could they possibly prove that it wasn’t stolen from me and planted on someone without my knowledge? Ridiculous.

 

[RogerWilco]

I see LE and government types as the biggest customer for this mode.

 

[mannyvel]

This will be as enforceable as the "equipment protection" on surge suppressors.

 

[Kabeyun]

I’m waiting, probably just a short while, until the “undetectable” mode is rendered detected.