Find My Device has always been able to use location and internet services to put your Android phones on the map, which you can use to track, ring, lock, or factory reset the device. The latest update enables the use of Bluetooth on nearby Android phones to scan and send the location of a lost device. This also works for accessories like earphones and tracker tags that are compatible with Google’s Fast Pair service.
While this sounds fantastic for someone who might have lost their phone, the very nature of this feature means that your own devices participate in this digital handshake to exchange locations with other phones in the Find My Device network. As far as privacy concerns go, this utility is end-to-end encrypted, and can only be deciphered by your password-protected Android device — not even Google can pry into this information.
However, with growing cases of financial fraud and privacy breaches, especially cases where one should start removing personal data from the internet — throwing in more trackable data isn’t good progress. Luckily, you don’t have to comply and share your location with other phones in the Find My Device network.