SMARTTHINGS FIND & PHONES TERMINATING

[ChristinaCvS]

1) They moved Samsung Find My Mobile from its own dedicated site/server SEPARATE from all other Smart Things which their customers may own, onto the current site.

2) Now the Smartthings Find site is terminating, on December 4th, the Lock, Call Back Up and Locate and will also terminate Unlock, Unlock Remotely, .... 

Basically all the stuff that they took off the original site and put in there, they are now terminating. 

Leave it to Samsung. Now that the 9ne UI has its own special page for such things...

Why can't they just put the old site back online? They have the room on their servers! Samsung was #1 for security in Android, why are they eroding that away themselves?

Like what...did someone steal a phone that just happened to be unlocked & it had the Smartthings app installed so their house got broken into, all their tvs, washer/dryer, refrigerator/freezer got stolen, then they tracked the other phones, they waited to see if they used paired keys. Or maybe they stalked a victim through the phone...

[GalaxyS23UltraW6C]

Those features are being removed for security purposes. They were abused by bad actors and that abuse eventually outweighed the benefits to consumers.

[ChristinaCvS]

The feature was fine before.

"Bad Actors"? What, are you a politician? Next you'll be talking about "provocateurs".

My issue with the removal is that I have been locked out of my device by people who are using remote access, not just Link to Windows, but software to emulate and clone my device.

Case in point. This Galaxy S23 Ultra was purchased at the beginning of October. It began showing issues, such as my fingerprints not being recognized, my Galaxy Store not working at all, and there being a black screen when I go under my Samsung profile security settings to change my Samsung password (that feature is just absent).
just before the OS 14 update. It got worse after I installed Gmail and there was a Google Update.

Being able to use the unlock feature when needed by consumers FAR OUTWEIGHS the few instances of abuse by "bad actors".

Any mobile phone feature has the capability of abuse by "bad actors", from adulterers to thieves to terrorists, to people who do not have legal documentation & need to clone a citizen's phone to stay in the country.

We need a way to regain access or to find it. So, what is the alternative?

[GalaxyS23UltraW6C]

Actually I was quoting Samsung IIRC...

[Hake]

The issue I've found is that I'm still able to track devices that have been fully factory reset and returned to Amazon over a year now after I returned them (they update every couple days last time I checked).. How do I know my current devices aren't being tracked?

I don't like them removing features but if it's removing this major privacy issue I could care less as long as I can be sure no regular person is tracking me without my knowledge.

[ChristinaCvS]

If you are still able to track your old devices,it is because you never removed them from your list of registered devices in your Samsung account.

No one can track you without access to your Samsung account or to the Smartthings app in your phone, which, by the way, I have never used because IT is the security issue, NOT the UNLOCK feature which is what I need the most when I forget my own password or am otherwise locked out. That feature is there so no customer ever has to hard factory reset, lose all their current data and be stuck with downloading an old backup, which is what just happened to me. I had to buy a whole new phone. Í

[Hake]

Well they aren't logged in to my account but I'm able to track the devices down to their home address in Florida I just checked and the most recent update is October 12 at a business in Florida... The issue for me is the fact that they've been fully factory reset like you'd do before returning a device and are still updating locations with the new owner never knowing.

I have no way of knowing if I'm being tracked by the previous owner(s?) of any of my devices, that's a problem.

How can I confirm that the previous owners removed my devices from their registered Samsung devices?

[ChristinaCvS]

I have no idea why you are tracking your old devices to begin with. Sounds weird. But if you worry that someone is tracking you, then do not buy refurbished devices.

[Hake]

I just read the pamphlet pop-up though and hope that they will replace the features they're removing with alternatives.

Now it's becoming almost as useless as Google's find my device app..

[ChristinaCvS]

That one I NEVER use. It's easier for someone who phosphorus your Gmail to find you that way than it is on Samsung Smartthings Find.