Android 16 will shield customers from pretend cell towers and potential spying threats

It seems that your smartphone may very well be an neglected vulnerability that places you prone to being tracked. To fight this, Google is rolling out a brand new safety function in Android 16 that may warn customers if their gadget is utilizing a pretend or insecure cell community or if that community requests figuring out details about a related gadget.

Nonetheless, these options doubtless will not be accessible till the subsequent technology of Android gadgets, as first reported by Android Authority. For the reason that present Android gadgets lack the {hardware} to help these options, the primary appropriate Android gadget we might see with this tech often is the Pixel 10 that is anticipated to debut later this summer time.

This function is designed to counteract cell website simulators, or gadgets that act like a cell tower and trick close by gadgets into connecting to it. As soon as related, these simulators can glean delicate data, like the situation of a smartphone. These cell website simulators are higher recognized by their industrial nickname, Stingray, and have been reportedly used by companies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in addition to Customs and Border Safety.

The upcoming safety features are rolling out as a part of the latest Android OS update, which was launched earlier this month. Appropriate gadgets could have the choice to toggle “community notifications” on or off, which is able to warn you in case your gadget connects to an unencrypted community or when the related community requests your telephone’s distinctive identifiers. On prime of that, there’s an alternative choice that allows you to activate “2G community safety” to keep away from the much less safe cell community kind.