What Is i-Phone 17 Name Drop, Is It Potential Threat to Youth?

The new iPhone 17 has created a buzz but for potentially negative reasons.

New name-drop feature potential threat, says law enforcement

Law enforcement agencies across WA state, and the nation are issuing warnings to parents and others about the new feature on the iPhone 17, as well as the OS10 watch.

It has a new feature called Name Drop.  Two iPhone 17s can be held within a few inches of each other, or slightly closer, and a person's contact information can be shared, according to the website indystar.com:

"It works by holding the devices a few centimeters away until NameDrop appears on both screens; then you can choose to share your contact card or receive another person's."

Law enforcement officials warn a person could potentially be sharing personal data without knowing it. However, it only works on an unlocked phone. Many people have passwords or facial recognition on their phones, and after the short active window, when the screen becomes dark, the phone locks until you want to use it and have to unlock it again.

Forbes reports Name Drop isn't just going to spill your contact information to anyone, but others caution it could leave a person, especially a child, open to hacking.

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Pasco PD issued a warning, that included directions on how to turn off Name Drop:

"This feature is defaulted to 'ON'. To shut this feature off, go to Settings, General, AirDrop, Bringing Devices Together and change to 'OFF'."

This feature only works on the iPhone 17, OS10 watch, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 7 and later, and 2nd generation Apple Watch SE