**Police Warning Adults About Apple’s NameDrop Feature in iOS 17**
Law enforcement agencies across the United States are warning adults to turn off the contact-sharing feature, NameDrop, on their iPhones and their children’s devices, after misinformation about the feature has gone viral. The viral video on TikTok with over 2 million views falsely claims that NameDrop allows strangers to steal personal information. However, it has been confirmed that NameDrop is not a huge security risk.
**NameDrop: An Apple Innovation**
NameDrop is an extension of Apple’s AirDrop functionality, first announced at the company’s developer conference in June. The feature allows two iPhone users to share their contact information by holding the top ends of their smartphones together. After touching phones, a contact card with email and phone number may appear on the screen, and users can choose to share or receive only.
NameDrop is auto-enabled with the update to iOS 17, but it is crucial to note that consent is required throughout the process. If the smartphones are moved apart during the process or if the user locks their iPhone, contact sharing is automatically canceled.
**How to Turn Off NameDrop**
If you still want to turn off the NameDrop feature for your iPhone, open Settings, tap General, then AirDrop, and toggle “Bringing Devices Together” to the left. From this same page, you can also change the settings for who can AirDrop information to your phone.
**Other Devices Compatible with NameDrop**
In addition to the iPhone, NameDrop is also compatible with the newer Apple Watch. Users can share their contact info from iPhones as well as other Apple Watches by following a similar process as on the iPhone.
**Personalize Your Contact Poster**
When sharing contact information through NameDrop, the image that pops up is called your Contact Poster. This feature also allows you to customize what appears when a call or text lands on a friend’s or family member’s phone. The Contact Poster can display a range of color choices, a selfie, memoji, or just your name.
**Ensuring Your iPhone Security**
While NameDrop has been deemed safe, it’s important for iPhone users to be aware of potential security risks. It’s a good idea to regularly check and adjust location sharing settings and install software updates as soon as they are available to protect against potential exploits.
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