Apple’s new contact-sharing feature, NameDrop, is raising concerns among US law enforcement and netizens, who fear it could expose users to privacy and security risks.
“If you have an iPhone and have completed the recent iOS 17 update, they have set a feature called “NameDrop” to default to ON after completing the update,” the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post on Sunday, warning parents to disable the feature on their children’s phones.
NameDrop, released with the iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 update on Oct. 25, allows two users to quickly exchange phone numbers or email addresses by holding their devices “a few centimeters” apart. There are several security layers to prevent misuse of the feature — most notably, users must consent to exchange contacts before can NameDrop work.
Warnings Over NameDrop
Law enforcement agencies from different states in the US have released public safety alerts over NameDrop. Police warned that the feature could put children at risk and recommended disabling it to prevent unintended data sharing.
Meanwhile, tech-savvy netizens and cybersecurity experts say fears over NameDrop are overblown and show that many don’t understand how the feature works.
A Reddit user emphasized the critical need for parental awareness regarding the use of NameDrop.
“Whether it’s automatic or not, it’s something parents should be aware of. Kids may just start clicking, accepting, and swiping without knowing what they’re doing, Sometimes at younger ages it’s hard to comprehend consequences of seemingly innocuous actions. Or maybe they DO know what they’re doing, but the parents just want to make sure their kids aren’t auto-sharing with someone they don’t want to have that info that easily,” the user said.
“Regardless, it’s for awareness, not fear mongering. If my kids were still younger, I’d turn this off on their phones for sure.”
This is not the first time a new release from Apple has spurned controversy. In 2021, after the release of AirTag, many expressed fears that stalkers could exploit the device tracking tool to invade the privacy of their targets. Apple subsequently updated the AirTag’s features to address these concerns.
How to Disable NameDrop
While NameDrop offers a convenient way to share contact information, its introduction — much like the viral Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses — has been met with scrutiny spurred by privacy concerns.
If you wish to disable the NameDrop feature on your iPhone, navigate to your iPhone’s settings, select “General,” then “AirDrop.” Toggle the “Bringing Devices Together” sharing option off.
NameDrop is only available on iPhones and Apple Watches running iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 and signed into iCloud.
For optimal security and privacy on your Apple devices, we recommend using a premium virtual private network (VPN) like NordVPN. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic and adds an extra layer of security and privacy that is particularly beneficial when using public Wi-Fi networks.
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