Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney Calls Apple’s Find My ‘Super Creepy Surveillance Tech’ That Shouldn’t Exist

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.”

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.