Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

NameDrop is safe

10 views
Skip to first unread message

JAB

unread,
Nov 28, 2023, 10:44:05 AM11/28/23
to
NameDrop is safe. The fearmongering about it is not.

Some police departments have said the new iPhone feature is risky.
Don't worry about it.

Some police departments and news organizations have been warning
people about what they say are safety risks of a new iPhone feature
called NameDrop that you can use to share contact information
wirelessly.

The truth: NameDrop is quite safe. The warnings about this technology
are wildly exaggerated.

Chester Wisniewski, a digital security specialist at Sophos, called
the warnings about NameDrop "hysteria" and "nonsense."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/27/namedrop-iphone-ios17-safety/

rdh

unread,
Nov 28, 2023, 11:17:28 AM11/28/23
to
It's pretty safe. You have to choose to send your info, and I assume
it's using similar technology to AirDrop, which you could already use to
share your contact info. The big difference is if you hold your phone
near another phone/watch, it gives you the option to do so easily.

The biggest risk is that there might be some NFC exploit, but your
iPhone will be using NFC anyway.

And FWIW, I recall Samsung having a similar feature about a decade ago.
Don't remember if it was an Android thing or a Samsung thing, but it was
neat, the few times I could convince anyone else to try it with me.

Retrograde

unread,
Nov 28, 2023, 11:53:50 AM11/28/23
to
I've got a Samsung. There's one thing called Quick Share and another
called Nearby Share. I've used both with family members and it works
pretty well.

Remember back in like 2008 or so when AirDrop was more 'generous' and
lads were airdropping dick pics on women they met in the subway. You'd
just look for a target with a female name (device called Ashley's
Iphone) and send her something to look at. Everyone freaked out of
course and Apple had to scramble to fix it.

JAB

unread,
Nov 28, 2023, 12:25:54 PM11/28/23
to
On Tue, 28 Nov 2023 16:53:47 GMT, Retrograde
<fun...@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

>Apple had to scramble to fix it.

Sidenote - Microsoft/Apple/etc have made billions via new features and
fixing their OSs/Programs from Version 1.0

JAB

unread,
Nov 29, 2023, 11:17:03 AM11/29/23
to
Local police should not be your go-to source for iPhone safety news

A warning about the NameDrop feature on iOS 17 is just the latest in a
long history of misleading Facebook posts from law enforcement.

Warnings about NameDrop, a feature on Apple's iOS 17 that allows users
to share contact information, have spread like an annoying chain
letter across police department Facebook pages over the past few days.
These warnings were misleading, but social media posts about online
threats to kids don't have to be true to get views.

https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/11/29/23980247/iphone-namedrop-ios-17-police
0 new messages