Life360 has announced that its tracking device, Tile, must not be used to stalk people without express permission. The company said anyone that uses Tile to track other people risks getting fined $1 million if convicted in a law court. Life360 said a new Anti-Theft Mode has been installed in Tile, and that the tracker’s Scan and Secure feature will be disabled if the anti-theft mode is turned on.
With the Scan and Secure security feature, Tile users can use their smartphones to detect other Tile devices nearby and prevent them from stalking. The problem with this feature, however, is that this security feature enables stalkers to locate and remove stolen devices once they detect that they have been identified, undermining the capabilities of Tile’s anti-theft functions.
It must be pointed out that Apple’s AirTag also has the same feature whereby nearby tracking devices can be located and deactivated to prevent stalking. Funny enough, Tile’s Scan and Secure feature will not work with the product’s Anti-Theft Mode if the latter is activated, meaning that one feature defeats the other to make users safer.
To underscore the company’s zero-tolerance for potential stalkers, Tile announced that anyone who uses the tracker to stalk anyone without permission risks a penalty of $1 million if convicted. The company said it is working with law enforcement agents to bring in stalkers and get them convicted with a $1 million fine.
To activate the Anti-Theft Mode and get stalkers liable in the law courts, Tile said product users must authenticate their identity with a multifactor identification program via a biometric scan and a government-issued ID. The company said all user data will be stored by Berbix, a third-party ID verification company, and that user data will not be sold or monetized in any way, but may be shared with law enforcement where illegal product use is suspected.
While AirTag notifies users of being tracked, Tile said its device will not notify users of tracking, since this would make thieves cover their tracks more easily.
“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,” Life360 revealed. “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. These alerts have the possibility of making Bluetooth trackers easily identifiable by thieves.”
The new Tile Anti-Theft Mode rolled out to many users on Friday and will come to nearly all users within the next few weeks, the company said.