Apple's Find My Is 'Super Creepy Surveillance Tech' That Shouldn't Exist, Says Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney today commented on Apple's Find My service, referring to it as "super creepy surveillance tech" that "shouldn't exist."

FindMy Feature
Sweeney went on to explain that several years ago, "a kid" stole a Mac laptop out of his car. Years later, Sweeney was checking ‌Find My‌, and as the Mac was still connected to his Apple ID account, it showed him the location where the thief lived.


Sweeney's take is curious, because providing the location of a lost or stolen device is exactly what the ‌Find My‌ service is meant to do. Apple devices remain tied to a user's account if not removed, a feature that is meant to thwart theft.


After confusion from his Twitter followers over his comments, Sweeney said that the location of a device in someone's possession can't be tracked without tracking the person, and "people have a right to privacy." He claims that detection and recovery of a lost or stolen device should be "mediated by due process of law" and not exposed to the device owner "in vigilante fashion."

When Sweeney saw how ‌Find My‌ worked, he said he turned off the feature on all of his devices.

While Apple's AirTag item trackers have been criticized for their use by stalkers, the ‌Find My‌ service has not been the target of similar complaints. ‌Find My‌ and Activation Lock have been important theft deterrents, cutting down on iPhone theft. Apple recently expanded Activation Lock to include iPhone components to prevent them from being disassembled for parts.

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Top Rated Comments

Think|Different Avatar
16 weeks ago
This guy continues to be insanely delusional. Wealth has seemingly only made him more. It's almost sad, he can't see past his blind rage (for a company) and says ridiculous stuff like this.

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Score: 162 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Minato1990 Avatar
16 weeks ago
[MEDIA=twitter]1818323238377664951[/MEDIA]
Score: 146 Votes (Like | Disagree)
breenmask Avatar
16 weeks ago
Tim is against the one job Find My is supposed to do? LOL
Score: 97 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eno12 Avatar
16 weeks ago
Sweeney: "I know where my stolen laptop is! That is a bad thing." WTAF is wrong with this guy.

For second hand computers you should always ensure find my is disabled on it. IIRC it will have an activation lock on it if the original owner did not do this. Once disabled the original owner has no way to track you. There is no issue here.
Score: 95 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nikon1 Avatar
16 weeks ago
Sweeney seems to have a real red bottom over EVERYTHING Apple. Go back to whining, bozo!
Score: 89 Votes (Like | Disagree)
breenmask Avatar
16 weeks ago
right to privacy? like the right to share my personal billing info with only one company I trust instead of being forced to go through third parties
Score: 74 Votes (Like | Disagree)