A recent post on social media incorrectly stated that Apple's AirDrop feature is a financial security risk.

TikTok has a lot going for it. Mainly, it's the creativity of its users and the ease with which information can be shared. On the other hand, however, it is also a double-edged sword in that it is easy for misinformation to spread. One such victim is Apple's AirDrop feature, which has recently been at the center of rumors that Apple Pay information can be easily stolen.

One of the most famous videos, with over 1.1 million views, cautions people to disable the AirDrop feature. According to the video, Apple Pay users who enable the AirDrop feature are at risk of having their financial information stolen. However, as noted in The Daily Dot, this type of concern is based on a misunderstanding of how AirDrop works.

First, it should be noted that Apple Pay information is encrypted and cannot be accessed by the phone's file management system. For this reason, it is impossible to share details via AirDrop. For reference, AirDrop can send photos, videos, documents, playlists, app and website passwords, contact information, and pinned locations on Apple Maps.

This is all very similar to and likely a result of 2023 concerns about the NameDrop feature in iOS 17. In case you don't recall, this entire incident stemmed from law enforcement erroneously stating that NameDrop could steal user data without the owner's knowledge. However, this fear again ignored several steps that would have prevented this possibility, primarily the need for verification.

While it is easy to be concerned about new sharing features, it is worth noting that cell phone manufacturers want to make your device as secure as possible. The easiest solution to all of this is to reject all AirDrop requests or set AirDrop to contacts only. On the other hand, there are very real concerns about RCS communications between iPhone and Android that users should be aware of.