Enlarge / The regional headquarters of Samsung in Mountain View, California. (credit: Getty Images/Smith Collection)

Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag 2 was a no-show at Galaxy Fold 5 launch , but considering it was just spotted at the Federal Communications Commission by 9to5Google , it should be out on store shelves eventually. A Galaxy SmartTag, if you haven't heard, is a Bluetooth tracker, just like a Tile or AirTag, but from Samsung. Previous versions have only worked with Samsung phones.

The FCC listing features a picture of this thing, and unlike the square, Tile-clone design of the original Galaxy SmartTag, this is definitely unique. It's a flat, pill-shaped device with a huge key ring hole at the top. It sort of looks like a cigar cutter . If that's actually a normal key ring-sized hole, this is about twice the size of an AirTag.

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  Samsung's new SmartTag. [credit: FCC ]

Just like the Galaxy SmartTag+, this device will come with UWB (ultra-wideband) tracking, which will help locate the device when it's nearby. When it's far away, you will rely on the device's smartphone network. Previously this device popped up in the Bluetooth SIG database, where it was listed with Bluetooth 5.3, which should make it more battery efficient than the old Bluetooth 5.1 tag.

Enlarge (credit: Google)

When Google announced that trackers would be able to tie in to its 3 billion-device Bluetooth tracking network at its Google I/O 2023 conference, it also said that it would make it easier for people to avoid being tracked by trackers they don't know about, like Apple AirTags .

Now Android users will soon get these " Unknown Tracker Alerts ." Based on the joint specification developed by Google and Apple , and incorporating feedback from tracker-makers like Tile and Chipolo, the alerts currently work only with AirTags, but Google says it will work with tag manufacturers to expand its coverage.

For now, if an AirTag you don't own "is separated from its owner and determined to be traveling with you," a notification will tell you this and that "the owner of the tracker can see its location." Tapping the notification brings up a map tracing back to where it was first seen traveling with you. Google notes that this location data "is always encrypted and never shared with Google."

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  Apple's AirTag. [credit: Samuel Axon ]

Today, Apple and Google announced that the two companies have jointly "submitted a proposed" specification to combat stalking using devices like AirTag or Tile trackers.

In its newsroom post, Apple claims that the specification has been developed based on feedback from a range of device manufacturers as well as safety and advocacy groups. Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, Eufy, and Pebblebee have all "expressed support" for the specification.

This new development comes after countless examples of trackers like Apple's AirTag trackers being used for malicious stalking in various contexts. When Ars first reviewed the AirTag , we wrote that the tracker's capabilities were impressive for its intended uses—but that they were unfortunately also impressive for malicious purposes.

Enlarge / DuckDuckGo's Email Protection, now available in public beta, gives you an email address that will strip trackers from emails and forward the rest to you. (credit: DuckDuckGo)

DuckDuckGo's tracker-removing email service, which has been available in private beta for a year, is now open to anyone who uses a DuckDuckGo mobile app, browser extension, or Mac browser. It has also added a few more privacy tools.

The service provides you a duck.com email address, one intended to be given out for the kind of "Subscribe to our newsletter for 20% off" emails you know exist only to harvest data and target you for ads. Email sent to your duck.com address forwards to your chosen primary email—but with trackers removed.

Email Protection now also fixes up links, strips them of tracking modifiers, upgrades unencrypted HTTP URLs to HTTPS where possible, and, for the rare necessary reply, allows you to send directly from your duck address instead of exposing your primary email. During their closed beta, DuckDuckGo claims that 85 percent of the emails it processed contained hidden trackers.

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson)

DuckDuckGo, the privacy-minded search company, says it will block trackers from Microsoft in its desktop web browser , following revelations in May that certain scripts from Bing and LinkedIn were getting a pass.

In a blog post , DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg says that he's heard users' concerns since security researcher Zach Edwards' thread that "we didn't meet their expectations around one of our browser's web tracking protections." Weinberg says that, over the next week, the company's browser will add Microsoft to the list of third-party tracking scripts blocked by its mobile and desktop browsers, as well as extensions for other browsers.

"Previously, we were limited in how we could apply our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection on Microsoft tracking scripts due to a policy requirement related to our use of Bing as a source for our private search results," Weinberg writes. "We're glad this is no longer the case. We have not had, and do not have, any similar limitation with any other company."