Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is back at it again, this time by labeling Apple’s Find My service as “super creepy surveillance tech.” The executive shared a personal anecdote about tracking down a stolen Mac laptop to the thief’s home using the service. This feature is made to help users locate lost or stolen devices, but Sweeney argues that it infringes on privacy rights.
This feature is super creepy surveillance tech and shouldn’t exist. Years ago, a kid stole a Mac laptop out of my car. Years later, I was checking out Find My and it showed a map with the house where the kid who stole my Mac lived. WTF Apple? How is that okay?!
Sweeney contends that tracking a stolen device inevitably involves tracking the person in possession of it. He believes that the recovery of stolen property should be a matter for law enforcement rather than individuals taking matters into their own hands. Due to these concerns, the Epic CEO has even disabled Find My on all his devices.
Apple has been criticized in the past for AirTags being used by stalkers, but Find My itself hasn’t been a target of such complaints, as reported by MacRumors. The service is generally seen as a valuable tool for deterring theft and protecting user property.
Find My is a service designed to help people recover their lost or stolen property. It’s a tool that has proven effective in deterring theft and assisting in property recovery. To dismiss it entirely seems overly simplistic.
Moreover, The location of Apple devices on the Find My network can’t be accessed by Apple.
The Find My network uses end-to-end encryption so that Apple cannot see the location of any offline device or reporting device.
Apple
This isn’t the first time Tim has been vocal against Apple. Earlier this year, MSPowerUser posted an article with the headline “Apple says it spent “tens of thousands of hours” on the DMA App Store solution after Microsoft complains,” to which Tim responded with something like:
This comes after Epic recently revealed details about getting the green light from Apple in Europe to release Fortnite on iOS for the first time in four years.
What’s your take on Sweeney’s comments?
Sweeney is a man child