EndPoint Consumer Features: Samsung SmartThings Find
Description
This assessment evaluates the privacy implications of enabling and using Samsung’s Find My Mobile and SmartThings Find functionality across Government of Canada (GC)–issued Samsung devices, including smartphones, tablets, and equipment that has Samsung SmartTags attached. These features support the secure location and recovery of lost or stolen government devices and assets while maintaining the privacy of individual users. Samsung’s ecosystem includes Find My Mobile for locating registered Samsung devices and SmartThings Find, which leverages a crowdsourced network of Samsung devices to locate offline devices and SmartTags. Employees issued government devices maintain control over whether their personal location is shared. No government official, system administrator, or departmental authority will have access to live or historical geolocation of a device through Samsung's network unless the individual chooses to share their Samsung account credentials with those individuals. This location access would be limited to the two people who consented to share/receive the information.
Why a Technology Assessment for Privacy Implications (TAPI) was completed
Following TBS updates in 2024, SSC developed a TAPI instrument to ensure enterprise technologies receive privacy assessments even though the new Standard on Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) applies to programs. Geolocation features such as SmartThings Find are being considered for enablement of SSC managed devices. This TAPI outlines solution-level privacy considerations for implementing departments.
Summary of Privacy Risks and Mitigation Measures
The main privacy risk with Samsung’s Find My Mobile feature is that device location information could be exposed or misused, but this risk is reduced through strong built‑in protections. Location data is secured through encrypted communication and strong authentication, and only the device owner can view their device’s location through their Samsung account—meaning neither Samsung nor the Government of Canada can track users. Users have full control to turn the feature on or off at any time, and it is not connected to any government monitoring systems. A small additional risk exists with Lost Mode, which can be activated by users or administrators and forces location services on to help recover a lost device; however, this is limited to recovery purposes, and the device clearly shows that Lost Mode is active. These risks are further reduced by ensuring users receive clear notice about how the feature works and are properly trained to use Find My Mobile in a privacy‑protective way.
Related personal information banks (PIBs)
The solution itself does not require a PIB. It is not the intention of this feature to enable departmental collections of personal information.