Tile Tracker
Tile, Inc. · Location / People Tracker
✓ Reviewed
Index
Tile is a Bluetooth tracker whose location reports researchers found are transmitted in cleartext with a static MAC address, meaning Life360 (which owns Tile) and potentially nearby snoops can track a tag despite the company's claim that only the owner can see its location. Its 'Anti-Theft Mode' hides tags from the same Scan and Secure feature stalking victims use to find planted trackers, and its terms let Tile hand personal data to law enforcement at its own discretion without a subpoena.
Why this rating
Server-side cleartext handling of precise location (-15), broker-adjacent exposure via data-selling parent Life360 (-15), law-enforcement disclosure at company discretion without a subpoena (-5), and a policy that misrepresented who can see location (-7). Evidence: 2025 security research and EFF analysis of unencrypted/static-MAC tracking (security-negligence), the anti-theft mode that hides tags from victims (dark-patterns), and the loose law-enforcement pipeline.
What it is
- Requires a cloud account
- Manufacturer
- Tile, Inc.
- Category
- Location / People Tracker
- Model years
- 2013-present
- Market status
- Current
- Companion app
- Tile
The evidence 3
Independent research, regulatory action, lawsuits, breaches and journalism about this device — the "what actually happens" axis. Each links to its source.
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EFF details that Tile sends location in cleartext with a non-randomized MAC, letting Life360 and others track tags, and that anti-theft mode disarms victims' ability to detect stalking.
Why it matters here: Independent analysis of this device's core security and stalking-safety failures.
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Technical study documenting unencrypted transmission and a static MAC address that allow nearby parties and the vendor to track Tile devices.
Why it matters here: Peer-style measurement confirming the tracking weaknesses in this exact product.
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Reporting on researcher findings that Tile's weak security turns its trackers into potential stalking tools.
Why it matters here: Independent journalism corroborating the security-negligence findings.
Descriptive, cited, not legal advice; ratings are versioned and corrections create a new version. Data from the IoT Info Grabber DB research project, CC BY-SA 4.0.