Researchers Warn: WiFi Could Become an Invisible Mass Surveillance System
scitechdaily.com
Researchers say a new technology can identify individuals even when they are not carrying a WiFi device by passively recording signals in radio networks, raising serious privacy concerns and prompting calls for stronger protections. Walking past a café with an active WiFi network could be enough
  • ExtremeDullard@piefed.socialEnglish
    11·
    2 days ago

    No need for that level of high-tech spycraft. Google already exploits WiFi very simply to track the living daylights out of you using their ubiquitous Android trojan in your pocket, and the visible part of that massive surveillance effort is called Assisted GPS.

    • French75@slrpnk.netEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      Beyond Apple and Google collecting it, there are thousands of apps people install that ask for location information that sell the data. Companies like Anomaly 6 claim that they get location data on over 3 billion of handsets from app-based location tracking.

      On the article headline… it’s a huge enhancement to the capabilities we’ve already known. We’ve known for some time that phones can be passively tracked based on the saved Wifi networks they attempt to auto-connect to. This development suggests we can track humans (not electronics) based on the observed disturbance the human meat causes to the wifi signal. If it works and is as accurate as the researchers claim (something I’d be suspicious of), that’s a pretty big deal.