Tile has introduced that it’s rolling out its new “Scan & Secure” characteristic in its app this week, permitting anybody with the Tile app to run a scan to see if there are any undesirable Tile tags or trackers close to you that shouldn’t be there.

The security characteristic (which was introduced final fall alongside Tile’s latest monitoring tags) has been a very long time coming and provides each iOS and Android customers the flexibility to verify for undesirable tags. Apple provides an analogous app for Android, which lets customers scan for equally malicious AirTag trackers, too.

All trackers — whether or not they be Tile tag, Apple AirTags, or from one other firm — carry the potential for abuse by stalkers, and whereas these units have been round for years, the latest surge in reputation has put a brand new highlight on the difficulty and the dangers monitoring tags can pose.

The essential subject with Tile’s app (and Apple’s Android app) is that it’s a particularly proactive service. Users need to manually obtain the app and run a scan as an alternative of getting robotically notified if there’s an unknown tag close by (as AirTags do — not less than in idea — with iOS units).

In order to conduct a scan, customers must obtain the Tile app after which transfer “a certain distance” away from their unique location in order that the app can see if any Tiles are transferring with you that shouldn’t be. Tile’s FAQ notes that the app can take as much as ten minutes to conduct a scan and advises in opposition to utilizing it on issues like public transportation (the place it would flag false positives of Tile prospects utilizing their very own tags as supposed).

Image: Tile

If the scan does discover undesirable tags, Tile’s FAQ makes some extent to advocate that customers contact sources just like the National Domestic Violence Hotline, The Pixel Project, or native regulation enforcement in the event that they’re involved about stalkers or security.

It’s necessary to notice that Tile isn’t utilizing the scan characteristic as a method to get extra prospects to enroll in its app and prolong its community. While the service can be accessible to anybody with a Tile account, customers will have the ability to merely obtain the app and scan for tags with out having to enroll first, and their telephones gained’t change into a part of Tile’s discovering community.

Tile says that the Scan & Secure characteristic is rolling out now and ought to be accessible to anybody who has the Tile app put in (whether or not they’ve signed up for a Tile account) inside per week or two.