Billings police alert the public to an iPhone upgrade security concern

Billings, Montana – In a time when cell phones may be used for anything from banking information to family photos, social media posts from law enforcement alerting people about a new iPhone upgrade raised concerns, even in Montana.

NameDrop is a new feature in the iOS 17 version for the iPhone. It lets users easily share images, videos, and contact details without requiring the other user’s number, much like the AirDrop tool. NameDrop is not like AirDrop in that it needs both users to accept a prompt before exchanging any information and the tops of their phones must be in contact.

After learning about the update for the first time on Sunday, Lt. Matt Lennick of the Billings Police Department shared it on Facebook that evening.

“I just saw a post on another platform that was talking about the privacy settings and so I checked my phone, my iPhone, and mine was turned on. Not something I would normally keep on,” Lennick said on Monday. “I caution the public to be aware of what these settings are.”

Law enforcement organizations are alerting the public to the new function because it activates immediately on the phone after the update is finished.

“I think most people are probably most concerned about their kids making good decisions on what they’re accepting,” Lennick said. “It wasn’t meant to scare anybody. I think there are still checks in place.”

Justin Hutchinson, a resident of Billings, bought the newest iPhone, thus he’s been using iOS 17 on his device for some time. The fact that NameDrop was a feature thrilled him.

“Android has had a similar feature for about three years. So, I was like, ‘Hey, alright, us iPhone people finally have a similar feature,’” Hutchinson said.

He stated that he wants people to know that it is difficult for anybody to obtain your information unless you want them to, and that he is not concerned about the latest update.

“I think the biggest concern is that this feature is like someone comes near you, is in the grocery store with you, can steal your information and it’s just not like that,” Hutchinson said. “There’s so many layers to this, that it’s really not a problem.”

Go to Settings, General, AirDrop, and flip Bringing Devices Together to off to disable NameDrop.