China has cracked Apple's AirDrop to extract the sender's contact details

AirDrop, the wireless file transfer protocol that is supported by Apple's iPhones, iPads, and Macs, has long been a great way to quickly and easily send files, photos, and videos between people and devices. But it's a protocol that's had its privacy problems, with people sending images to unknowing recipients. It's also a problem that the Chinese government has been dealing with in terms of pro-democracy protestors sending information to others without their knowledge. The Chinese government has been trying to stop that from happening and Apple has tweaked AirDrop to default to only accepting transfers from known contacts as a result. Now, it seems China has gone a step further and can proactively identify the people who sent the images, too.

That's according to a Bloomberg report based on a Chinese post by the Beijing Judicial Bureau which claims that it has now been able to crack AirDrop in such a way that it can extract the contact details of the people who send files over its peer-to-peer network. Those contact details include phone numbers and email addresses, with police adding that they have been able to identify multiple people suspected of sharing pro-democracy content with others. It hasn't been confirmed if any of those people have been arrested, however.

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China claims the move is a technological breakthrough, and it's one that could prevent the sharing of pro-democracy material via AirDrop in the future. The method of sharing posters and other media was used heavily during the 2019 protests in Hong Kong and China has been trying to crack down on AirDrop ever since.

Apple has something of a complicated relationship with China, and this latest news isn't going to help matters. China is a huge market for any company, but Apple has been trying to expand its presence there for years. Part of that involves dealing with a Chinese government that places strict controls on the information its citizens consume, something that impacts Apple and its services. As a result, many apps aren't available in its App Store that are readily downloadable internationally, while content on Apple TV and Apple Books has to be restricted to meet the country's requirements.

Apple has so far not commented on China's revelation that it can peek into AirDrop to extract contact information, but it's possible that it will seek to prevent that from happening in the future - a move that would surely greatly displease the Chinese government.