Tag: Tracking

Fall is here, another nice weekend is here too. Let's go through great articles.

• Point-free pointers advertise their new tool to test Swift Macros – A new tool for testing macros in Swift;
  
  
• Apple added new lifecycle method to UIView, Keith Harrison covers it in UIKit View Lifecycle - viewIsAppearing;
  
  
• Majid Jabrayilov continues his series on charts – Mastering charts in SwiftUI. Pie and Donut charts.;
  
  
• The Future of Accessing User Location in SwiftUI by Leonardo Maia Pugliese is covering location tracking aspects in modern apps;
  
  
• Antoine van der Lee goes through parameter packs in Swift – Value and Type parameter packs in Swift explained with examples;
  
  
• Bruno Rocha goes deep into implementation details of Swift structured concurrency – How async/await works internally in Swift;
  
  
• Craig Hockenberry explores design changes in watchOS – The Timer in watchOS 10.

And that is it. Come back next week for more great articles!

Apple and Google are cooperating (again!) on use of Bluetooth (again!) tracking technology. AirTags and other item trackers based on Bluetooth could be used to perform unwanted tracking.

Apple added additional safeguards to report unrecognized AirTag traveling with user. Also, app was introduced for Android users.

Now Apple and Google are working together to have unified specification to alert users of unwanted location trackers. Future versions of iOS and Android are to implement these specifications.

Apple Newsroom: Apple, Google partner on an industry specification to address unwanted tracking

IETF Datatracker: Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers

Google Play: Tracker Detect

References:

• Apple and Google Submit Spec to Industry Group Addressing Unwanted Use of Item Trackers
• Apple to Expand AirTag-Like Unwanted Tracking Alerts to Other Item Trackers in Future iOS Version
• Apple and Google team up to bring AirTag-like unwanted tracking alerts to all item trackers on iPhone and Android

Apple tries to address AirTag unwanted tracking issues in updated safety document.

Both AirTag and the Find My network are designed with privacy at their core. AirTag and Find My network accessories have unique Bluetooth identifiers that change frequently. To discourage unwanted tracking, Find My notifies you if an unknown AirTag or other Find My accessory is seen moving with you over time by sending you the message, “Item Detected Near You.” (This feature is available on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 14.5 or iPadOS 14.5 or later). If you see this message on your device, an AirTag or other Find My accessory that has been separated from the person who registered it is traveling with you, and the owner might be able to see its location. It’s possible that the AirTag might be attached to an item you are borrowing.

Apple

Apple: Personal Safety User Guide

Apple Support: What to do if you get an alert that an AirTag or Find My network accessory is with you

Reference: Apple Explains How to Stay Safe With AirTag and More in Personal Safety Guide

Safari 15 is exposing IndexedDB data to opened sites and in tabs and recently opened.

Sites cannot read contents of IndexedDB, however, names of databases are accessible to all sites. Google keeps user ID as a part of database name allowing cross-site tracking.

Live demo: Safari Leaks

Reference:

• Safari bug can leak some of your Google account info and recent browsing history
• Safari Bug Allows Websites to Track Your Recent Browsing Activity in Real Time
• Safari 15 IndexedDB Information Leaks

Apple released 'Tracker Detect' application for Android. This apps will warn users if it sees unwanted AirTag traveling with the user.

App detects AirTags that are separated from their owners and displays those. This minimizes risks of false alarms.

It seems, however, that currently app does not detect AirTags in background and user needs to explicitly launch an app and perform scan manually.

Google Play: Tracker Detect