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Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

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Re: Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

#51

How is this "for the first time?" I saw a well established company demonstrating this technology 5 years ago. They were selling it on being able to either track your employees (this was gov fwiw) or other people in your building. They could do it both through WiFi and Bluetooth and uniquely identify you. While I think this technology is concerning, I'm confused what's new here and trying to read through the marketing…

No post body was provided.

Re: Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

#52

This is generally old news. Philz Coffee in Palo Alto, CA and major department stores in the US have been doing this for years to track foot traffic. If you don't want to be tracked, turn off BT and Wifi and demand the protocol stds body and mfgrs support even stronger randomized hw addresses.

The technique described in the paper is different than what major stores have been doing for years, making your statement incorrect.

Re: Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

#53

If your phone is transmitting radio signals it is identifiable and trackable. A smart phones' primary feature and defining feature is transmitting radio signals. I don't think anyone is surprised at these "anonymous" bluetooth functions being deanonymized. But at least bluetooth beacons aren't going to go very far. Multi-lateration of cell phone radio transmission via precise shared clocks at the base stations gives…

> In the USA this stored by telcos for 2-5 years and is often sold to both private and government purchasers.

To private purchasers?

For 2-5 years?

No need for a judge issued warrant?

Just sold?

Re: Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

#54
post #53

If your phone is transmitting radio signals it is identifiable and trackable. A smart phones' primary feature and defining feature is transmitting radio signals. I don't think anyone is surprised at these "anonymous" bluetooth functions being deanonymized. But at least bluetooth beacons aren't going to go very far. Multi-lateration of cell phone radio transmission via precise shared clocks at the base stations gives…

> In the USA this stored by telcos for 2-5 years and is often sold to both private and government purchasers. To private purchasers? For 2-5 years? No need for a judge issued warrant? Just sold?

yes, a private company that has bought the information can just chose to share it for a fee with anybody it likes. Why would a judge be involved in that?

Re: Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

#55
post #54
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the USA this stored by telcos for 2-5 years and is often sold to both private and government purchasers. To private purchasers? For 2-5 years? No need for a judge issued warrant? Just sold?

yes, a private company that has bought the information can just chose to share it for a fee with anybody it likes. Why would a judge be involved in that?

Because it's not theirs to sell, data about a person should belong to that person. They should control who it's being shared with.

Re: Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

#57

> It’s the first time researchers have demonstrated it’s feasible to track individuals using Bluetooth wat.jpg Google scholar has papers going back at least 18 years on this.

Except it’s not based on broadcasted identifiers which is what you’re citing.

Re: Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

#59
post #53

If your phone is transmitting radio signals it is identifiable and trackable. A smart phones' primary feature and defining feature is transmitting radio signals. I don't think anyone is surprised at these "anonymous" bluetooth functions being deanonymized. But at least bluetooth beacons aren't going to go very far. Multi-lateration of cell phone radio transmission via precise shared clocks at the base stations gives…

> In the USA this stored by telcos for 2-5 years and is often sold to both private and government purchasers. To private purchasers? For 2-5 years? No need for a judge issued warrant? Just sold?

One of those services even used to have a demo site where you could put in any mobile phone number and it would show where it was. It got quickly shut down when it made the news.

I can't find the article because Google search terms for stuff like "locating any phone by number" are SEOed to death by scammers trying to exploit would-be stalkers

edit: found it https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/05/tracking-firm-locationsm...

Re: Bluetooth signals can be used to identify and track smartphones

#60

How is this "for the first time?" I saw a well established company demonstrating this technology 5 years ago. They were selling it on being able to either track your employees (this was gov fwiw) or other people in your building. They could do it both through WiFi and Bluetooth and uniquely identify you. While I think this technology is concerning, I'm confused what's new here and trying to read through the marketing…

Starting around 3-4 years ago, iOS and Android started randomizing the MAC address periodically to thwart tracking like that.

This new report works around that.

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