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Researchers have discovered major security flaws with Tile tracking tags, according to a report by Wired. These flaws could allow both the company itself and tech-savvy stalkers to track a user’s location. The security issue could also let a malicious actor falsely frame a Tile owner for stalking, as the flaw can make it appear as if a particular tag is constantly in the vicinity of somebody else’s tag.

The issue pertains to how Tile tags transmit data during use. Tile tags transmit a lot of data beyond that of other trackers, including the static MAC address and the rotating ID. According to reporting, none of this stuff is encrypted. The rotating ID changes all of the time, but a MAC address doesn’t.

Researchers believe that all of this information is stored in cleartext, making it easy for hackers to get ahold of. This also would theoretically give Tile itself the ability to track its users, though the company says it doesn’t have this capability.

It gets worse. Anyone with a radio frequency scanner can allegedly intercept all of this information as it’s being transmitted, creating another potential security hole. Also, this problem might not even be solved if Tile decides to stop transmitting the MAC address. This is because the company generates its rotating ID in such a way that future codes can be reliably predicted from past ones.

“An attacker only needs to record one message from the device,” one of the researchers behind the findings said, adding that a single recorded message will “fingerprint it for the rest of its lifetime.” The researcher said this creates a risk of systemic surveillance.

The security researchers, who are involved with the Georgia Institute of Technology, reached out to Tile’s parent company Life360 in November of last year to report the findings. Wired said the company stopped communicating with the researchers in February. The company did say it has made a number of improvements to its security but didn’t elaborate further.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/tile-trackers-reportedly-have-a-security-flaw-that-can-let-stalkers-track-your-location-183949165.html?src=rss 

Meta is expanding its use of facial recognition in Europe, the UK and South Korea to crack down on accounts that impersonate public figures. The new facial recognition-powered safety features are now live on Facebook in the regions and will expand to Instagram in the coming months.

The technology was initially put to use last year starting in the US, helping to identify ads that fraudulently use a celebrity’s likeness as well as to help people regain access to hacked accounts. Public figures opt in to this program in Europe, which is also being rolled out in South Korea alongside the new protections against impersonation. This new use case is aimed at scammers who pose as public figures to trick unsuspecting users into sending money or other scams of that nature.

“We’ll now use facial recognition technology to compare the profile picture on the suspicious account to the real public figure’s Facebook and Instagram profile pictures. If there’s a match, we will remove the impostor account,” said a Meta spokesperson.

In addition to the US rollout, the company’s facial recognition technology has been used to aid account recovery in the UK, EU and South Korea since March. This came three years after Facebook decided to shut down its facial recognition system on Facebook, due in large part to public backlash against the technology.

The social media giant touts the benefits of these tools, reporting that in the first half of 2025, user reports of “celebrity bait” ads dropped by 22 percent globally. Facial recognition remains a controversial technology, with differing public opinion on its use in law enforcement and the workplace.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-is-bringing-new-facial-recognition-tools-to-the-uk-eu-and-south-korea-185303065.html?src=rss 

The iRobot Roomba 104 robot vacuum is on sale for $150 just ahead of October’s Prime Day. That’s a nice little discount of 40 percent, which represents a savings of $100.

This is a newer version of the unit that topped our list of the best budget robot vacuums. It’s an entry-level robovac that gets the job done. The cleaning motor is fairly powerful and it ships with a multi-surface brush and an edge-sweeping brush. The vacuum uses LiDAR to map a home and to help it avoid obstacles when cleaning.

It’s also been equipped with specialized sensors to prevent falling down stairs. Steps are the natural enemy of all robot vacuums, except maybe this one. The Roomba 104 integrates with the company’s proprietary app, which allows for custom cleaning schedules and the like. The robot can also be controlled via voice assistant and boasts compatibility with Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant.

The vacuum will automatically head to the charger for some juice when running low, which is nice. The battery lasts around 200 minutes per charge, which is a decent enough metric for a budget-friendly robovac. The only downside here? This is just a vacuum. It doesn’t mop and it doesn’t come with a dedicated debris canister.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-roomba-robot-vacuum-is-on-sale-for-only-150-ahead-of-prime-day-164953406.html?src=rss 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently published a 163-page PDF showing the electrical schematics for the iPhone 16e, despite Apple specifically requesting them to be confidential. This was most likely a mistake on the part of the FCC, according to a report by AppleInsider.

The agency also distributed a cover letter from Apple alongside the schematics, which is dated September 16, 2024. This letter verifies the company’s request for privacy, indicating that the documents contain “confidential and proprietary trade secrets.” The cover letter asks for the documents to be withheld from public view “indefinitely.” Apple even suggested that a release of the files could give competitors an “unfair advantage.”

To that end, the documents feature full schematics of the iPhone 16e. These include block diagrams, electrical schematic diagrams, antenna locations and more. Competitors could simply buy a handset and open it up to get to this information, as the iPhone 16e came out back in February, but this leak would eliminate any guesswork. However, Apple is an extremely litigious company when it comes to stuff like patent infringement.

The FCC hasn’t addressed how this leak happened or what it intends to do about it. AppleInsider’s reporting suggested that this probably happened due to an incorrect setting in a database. This was likely not an intentional act against Apple, which tracks given that the company has been especially supportive of the Trump administration. CEO Tim Cook even brought the president a gold trophy for being such a good and important boy.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/fcc-accidentally-leaked-iphone-schematics-potentially-giving-rivals-a-peek-at-company-secrets-154551807.html?src=rss