New iOS 17 NameDrop feature sparks security concerns! iPhone users alerted by police

Apple announced the iOS 17 update for all eligible iPhones in September. The new iPhone update was introduced with several new features including the NameDrop feature, which allowed users to share their contacts with each other just by bringing their devices close together. However, in Pennsylvania, the feature created chaos and sparked security concerns forcing the police department to warn users about this iOS 17 feature. Know if the iPhone NameDrop feature is really worrisome.

Know how the Apple iOS 17 NameDrop feature works

The iOS 17 Name Drop feature enables users to AirDrop contacts to each other by bringing their iPhones close together. However, recently the city of Chester police department has issued a warning to iPhone users not to use this feature and to disable NameDrop immediately from their iPhones. The police department shared a privacy warning on their Facebook page which said, “If you have an iPhone and have done the recent iOS 17 update, they have set a new feature called NameDrop defaulted to ON. This feature allows the sharing of your contact info just by bringing your phones close together. To shut this off go to Settings, General, AirDrop, and Bringing Devices Together. Change to OFF.” Forbes reported.

However, the fuss about the NameDrop feature was just a misunderstanding and not a serious concern as Apple has worked on users’s security concerns. For the NameDrop feature to work, both iPhones should be unlocked and the iPhone user needs to give permission first to share contact when using this iOS 17 feature. Therefore, users do not have to worry about security as the contact details are not shared till the users agree to the permission. Therefore, there is no real worry about using the iPhone NameDrop feature.

Also, if you think you do not want to use the NameDrop feature then you can always turn it off by going to the iPhone settings and then go to “General”. Now, go to “AirDrop” and then “ Bringing Devices Together”. Now, simply turn the toggle off and the feature will be disabled.