Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how functions.
As noted by
The Washington Post, there have been warnings about NameDrop popping up on
FaceTime. Police departments in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Ohio, and other states have been suggesting that contact information can be shared "just by bringing your phones close together." From the
City of Chester Police Department in Ohio:
IMPORTANT PRIVACY UPDATE: If you have an iPhone and have done the recent iOS 17 update, they have set a new feature called NameDrop defaulted to ON. This feature allows the sharing of your contact info just by bringing your phones close together. To shut this off go to Settings, General, AirDrop, Bringing Devices Together. Change to OFF.
While it's true that NameDrop is turned on by default, the way that it functions is more nuanced than simply putting two iPhones near each other.
NameDrop works when two iPhones running iOS 17.1 or an
iPhone with iOS 17.1 and an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1 are placed right next to each other, as in almost touching. When the two devices come in close contact and both are unlocked, there is a pop up prompting users to share contact information or an image.
Contact information is not shared automatically, and it is a user-initiated process that requires both people exchanging information to accept the transfer. While an accidental exchange could occur, it would require a user to unlock their device and accept the sharing prompt for that to occur.
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