Local police should not be your go-to source for iPhone safety news

Warnings about NameDrop, a feature on Apple’s iOS 17 that allows users to share contact information, have spread like an annoying chain letter across police department Facebook pages over the past few days. These warnings were misleading, but social media posts about online threats to kids don’t have to be true to get views.

Dozens of police departments, some getting thousands of shares and generating media coverage, posted nearly identical alerts claiming that NameDrop would automatically allow strangers to steal your personal information just by placing their phone close to...