Read this privacy pouch update before you buy one of the phone Faraday bags reviewed by Simple Online Security.
iPhone Found by FindMy 2.0
After performing initial testing, I felt comfortable depending on all three products we reviewed. You can use the following links to read those reviews:
- Phone Privacy Pouch to Hide Your Location.
- Hodufy Faraday Bag for Phone.
- Ska Direct Anti Tracker Phone Wallet.
- InfoWars Privacy Pouch [Video].
Faraday bag failure: Problem description.
My iPhone 11, while sealed in each of the reviewed Faraday bags played the “lost phone” alert tone when activated by FindMy 2.0 for Mac.
Fooled by iCloud FindMyPhone
Interestingly, iCloud FindMyPhone still cannot find my phone while in one of the above Faraday bags.
RECAP: FindMy 2.0 for Mac can find my iPhone, but iCloud Find My iPhone cannot find it.
Find My iPhone on different iPhones also cannot find my iPhone while sealed inside a privacy pouch.
What’s the difference?
Why does FindMy 2.0 for Mac OS locate my phone while iCloud Find My iPhone doesn’t?
I don’t know.
Revised recommendation
Status: iPhone Found by FindMy 2.0.
Clearly, some signals escape all three phone privacy products that we’ve tested.
FindMy 2.0 on Mac activates the “lost phone” alert tone while the iPhone stays sealed in the bag. Clearly, that means that the phone pouches are ineffective against some signals.
Because of this, you cannot rely on any of these privacy pouches to preserve your online security.
Do not use one of these privacy wallets for mission-critical protection.
Moving forward
All the Faraday bags for iPhones were effective at blocking cellular voice & data. They blocked GPS (when tested from remote phones, not FindMy 2.0 for Mac) and Bluetooth.
They provide a measure of security, but they clearly are penetrable by some signals.
If you have any insights to share regarding FindMy 2.0 vs iCloud Find My iPhone, please send them to info@simpleonlinesecurity.com.
Introducing The Find My Network
Apple’s Find My Network is an unseen network of Apple devices and may soon include non-Apple devices that run the Find My network API.
According to the Find My Network Accessory Specification developer Preview Release R3,
The Find My network accessory protocol uses Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) as the primary transport to interact with Apple devices
I suggest that the Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) protocol as implemented on Mac hardware has sufficient strength to penetrate the Faraday bags that I have tested so far.
Read more about Apple’s Find My network by reading this article at MacRumors.
Additional Information
We could not consistently replicate the privacy pouch failures described on this page. Our experience, however, suggests that turning off your phone and leaving it at home gives you the best mobile online security.
Before you leave, check out additional resources published by Simple Online Security, LLC.