Bluetooth Signals Used to Identify, Track Smartphones

Tracking Smartphones

Bluetooth Signals Can Be Used to Identify, Track Smartphones

UC San Diego News Center

Ioana Patringenaru, June 8, 2022

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have demonstrated an exploit that taps Bluetooth beacon signals emitted by smartphones to track individuals. The researchers showed the signals bear a unique fingerprint, which UCSD's Nishant Bhaskar said poses a serious threat "as it is a frequent and constant wireless signal emitted from all our personal mobile devices." The fingerprint stems from manufacturing flaws in hardware that are unique to each device, which generate novel Bluetooth distortions that attackers could use to bypass anti-tracking measures. Experiments validated the feasibility of using the exploit in real-world settings, although the researchers noted it requires attackers to possess significant expertise. ... 

Bluetooth Hack can Unlock Tesla

This will get further attention. 

Bluetooth Hack Can Unlock Tesla, Devices  By Ars Technica

Sultan Qasim Khan at U.K.-based security firm NCC Group has devised an exploit for unlocking Teslas and countless other devices by hacking the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard. The simplest form of this relay attack involves two hackers who share data through an open Internet connection, and are respectively close to the Tesla and the authenticating phone. 

Attacker 1 captures the authenticating request from the Tesla and sends it to Attacker 2, who forwards the request to the phone and records and sends the phone-transmitted credential to Attacker 1, who then can unlock the car. The hack thwarts countermeasures like encrypting phone-transmitted credentials, and Khan said practically any BLE device that authenticates on proximity alone is susceptible., 

The hack, which exploits weaknesses in the Bluetooth Low Energy standard, can be used to unlock doors, open and operate vehicles, and gain unauthorized access to a host of laptops and other security-sensitive devices  ... 

In Ars Technica: 

In-Doors Bluetooth Tracking

I note that my bluetooth on IOS is now default on.    Beacons are not new, just their broad use of data acquisition.   You are being watched.

In Stores, Secret Surveillance Tracks Your Every Move
As you shop, “beacons” are watching you, using hidden technology in your phone.
By Michael Kwet

Imagine you are shopping in your favorite grocery store. As you approach the dairy aisle, you are sent a push notification in your phone: “10 percent off your favorite yogurt! Click here to redeem your coupon.” You considered buying yogurt on your last trip to the store, but you decided against it. How did your phone know?

Your smartphone was tracking you. The grocery store got your location data and paid a shadowy group of marketers to use that information to target you with ads. Recent reports have noted how companies use data gathered from cell towers, ambient Wi-Fi, and GPS. But the location data industry has a much more precise, and unobtrusive, tool: Bluetooth beacons.

These beacons are small, inobtrusive electronic devices that are hidden throughout the grocery store; an app on your phone that communicates with them informed the company not only that you had entered the building, but that you had lingered for two minutes in front of the low-fat Chobanis.   ... " 

Passive Bluetooth Sensor

Intriguing.   More details at the link.

Wiliot Unveils Passive Bluetooth Sensor

The innovative semiconductor firm has also announced that it has raised an additional $30 million in funding from Avery Dennison, Amazon Web Services and Samsung Venture Investment.
By Mark Robertiin RFIDJournal

Jan 25, 2019—Wiliot, a fabless semiconductor company launched in 2017, has unveiled the world's first passive Bluetooth sensor. The device, which is still a prototype, can harvest ambient RF energy from Wi-Fi access points, as well as smartphones connecting to cell towers and other Bluetooth signals. It is also able to detect temperature, pressure and movement, then relay that information to any Bluetooth transceiver. The firm has raised an additional $30 million in funding from Amazon Web Services, Avery Dennison and Samsung Venture Investment Corp.

"This is the third iteration of our chip, and this one is actually transmitting," says Steve Statler, Wiliot's senior VP for marketing and business development. "It's sort of our first call across the Atlantic. This year will be about going from proving it's possible to create a passive Bluetooth sensor to scaling it. Having the investment from Avery Dennison, Amazon Web Services and Samsung will help us do that."

Casino Key Security

Interesting security application.  Not new, but alternative applications of beacons.  Note regulatory application.

Casino Prevents Security Violations Via Beacon Solution
Thanks to a system provided by Barcoding Inc. and Visybl, Mount Airy Casino Resort is alerted if an employee begins to remove a key from its facility, enabling it to prevent regulatory infractions.
By Claire Swedberg

Tags: BLE, Security and Access Control

Sensors as Awareness of Things

CWorld writes about what they call 'Awareness of Things' gadgets.  I mentioned one of them,  the 'Dot' recently.   A kind of cheap primitive beacon that can can provide focused information to your devices, like a smartphone.   A good additional example is the ThermoPeanut, a simple thermometer, that connects to a phone App via low energy Smart Bluetooth.  More examples in the article.

  These are not part of the IoT, because they have no IP address. (?) Or are they simpler sensor-only one-way connections?   I much like the cheap and simple angle of this new direction.  Links to IFTTT at the device end to have specialized alerts to the user?  I see that ThermoPeanut is so linked.

I recall an application where we wanted to understand temperature information from a container  of agricultural commodities so we could sort the bins for initial sample testing.  Would have been a great way to do this simply, would have saved a great deal of resources and thus money.

Beacon System for Push Notification

A very simple idea, a small device that can generate an alert for a push notification based on context and location. .  Note this is unrelated in function to the Amazon Dot, even though it looks similar.

Seeing this more generally as a way to construct an IoT network in a smart home that can react intelligently to its inhabitants and mobile devices.

In FastCodesign:  This $20 Dot Makes Push Notifications Way Less Annoying ... Now on Kickstarter, these small Bluetooth beacons contextualize how your smartphone behaves based on your location.

" ...  GPS just doesn't have the granularity to determine whether or not you're in your bedroom or your home office, which is why companies like Apple use supplementary hardware called iBeacons to provide customers contextual information throughout their stores. Google has a similar project, called Nearby, that pings users in public places like museums and stores.

Dot is a set of beacon-like devices for your home and other personal spaces that allow you to contextualize your push notifications. A Dot is essentially a Bluetooth beacon that you stick on any surface. As your smartphone gets closer, it can detect the exact distance based upon signal strength, and send a push notification when you get within a certain distance. What's cool about Dot is that you can program that notification to contain anything, through an app inspired by popular internet recipe-making platform IFTTT (an acronym for "If This, Then That"). A Dot can just as easily be programmed to remind your roommate to take out the trash as it can turn on the smart lights to your bedroom when you walk in the room. ... "  

Beacosystems: Beacons and their Uses and Architectures

Very nicely done, The slides here.  ....  and will likely write about,  interesting thoughts in the invite, thought I would pass along.  Beacosystem?   Not sure that term will prevail , but OK.

" ...... A tour of the Beacosystem: Proximity and the Beacon ecosystem
Background, trends and what's next in the world of Proximity and iBeacon
Wednesday, September 16, 2015  10:00am PT | Show Timezones...

Description:
Apple galvanised the whole area of Proximity-enabled applications and services when it launched iBeacon at WWDC in June 2013. When iOS7 launched later that year, it was the first time support for a variety of Proximity use cases was both designed-in and available at scale in a mobile platform. Since then, hundreds of companies have become involved in different ways in the iBeacon ecosystem - the "Beacosystem" - making hardware, offering proximity or iBeacon software platforms, creating shopper marketing platforms, using beacons to deliver signals in location analytics or mobile marketing solutions, enabling indoor location, and much more.

This webcast gives a tour of the Beacosystem, and will cover:
More and registration.

Proximity (vs Location)
The Beacon Approach: Bluetooth
Apple has iBeacon and Google has Physical Web?
Startups and Giants in the Beacosystem
Standalone versus Embedded
Issues and Hurdles
Resources: where to learn more
About Sean O Sullivan

Techie and entrepreneur with experience in software startups. Background in Mobile, Proximity, Wireless, and Middleware. Co-Founder Rococo Software/ LocalSocial and Dial2Do/mySay.

Website: http://blog.seanosullivan.com/ 
Twitter: @sos100

Wi-Fi Aware as Beacon

Don't know where it is  currently being used, but Wi-Fi Aware can be used like a beacon in retail like those using Bluetooth Smart, the technology behind Apple iBeacon and Google Eddystone.   We experimented with Wi-Fi triangulation in the store lab for shopper location studies. It is said that some 100,000 beacons are in retail use today.   A more detailed comparison.

Bluetooth Beacons in Retail

In CW: Beacons in retail.  Can they fundamentally change the way physical retail works in an increasingly online world?

" ... People increasingly use mobile phones to locate stores, check whether items are in stock, and compare prices. If brick-and-mortar stores want to prosper (or even just survive), then they must adapt to the new  ...

Fortunately, a simple yet powerful tool has emerged that could help retail stores up their game. Bluetooth beacons don’t do much; they merely broadcast the same short message over and over. However, when Bluetooth beacons are used in tandem with smartphones and Web content, they bring places and objects to life. Specifically, Bluetooth beacons enable merchants to provide smartphone users personalized shopping experiences and self-service options. That empowers merchants to maximize sales, reduce costs and cut down on theft. ... " 

Bluetooth Weaving a Mesh

In CWorld:     A natural next step is outlined.   " ... Bluetooth starts weaving its mesh for IoT ... Low-power Bluetooth devices should get a standard way to organize themselves in networks next year .... " 

Beacons and Retail Shelf Labels

We did much work with electronic shelf labels (ESL).  See the link below for much more.  Quite natural to connect them to the beacon idea as part of retail infrastructure.  Combines visual and data transmission..  In the RFID Journal:
Panasonic Adds Bluetooth Beacons to Electronic Shelf Labels
The Powershelf system, which uses inductive coupling to transmit power and data to wireless electronic labels and sensors, now includes beacons to enable stores to provide data to customers on their phone apps. ... " 

Google Lets Devices Commune

In NetworkWorld:

" ... A new Google project aims to create nothing less than an open standard for the entire “Internet of Things,” which the company’s Chrome team is calling the Physical Web. ....

The idea is to create a comparatively simple system, using a subscribed discovery service, of beacons broadcasting URLs to smartphones in a given area, allowing users to interact with vending machines, posters, and bus stops in a location-aware, organic way, using only Bluetooth and web technology – no specialized app required. ....

Google product strategist Scott Jenson said that the problem the Physical Web is designed to solve is one of scale.

Health Scanning with Sweat Sensors

From our local University of Cincinnati, whose board I was on for years:

" ... A University of Cincinnati partnership is reporting a significant leap forward in health diagnostics that are more accurate than what’s available today, yet considerably less invasive than something like a blood screening. It’s a lightweight, wearable device that analyzes sweat by using a smartphone.  UC researcher Jason Heikenfeld is holding next generation of sweat sensor pad and flexible bluetooth circuit. .... 

In an article published in the latest issue of IEEE Spectrum Magazine, Jason Heikenfeld, a UC professor of electrical engineering and computing systems, highlights new developments regarding the gadget that can gather vital medical information in almost real time.  ... " .    Bravo. Look forward to hearing more.

IDEO and Nearables

IDEO worked with us by helping build a Gym for designing consumer products, which connected to our innovation centers.    Now they are promoting the idea of bluetooth 'nearables'.   Read the comments, they have some good complaints.  In FastCodesign:

" ... Last week beacon technology--sensors which can trigger actions in devices that come within range, increasing their spatial intelligence--shrank in size and grew in opportunity with the introduction of Estimote Stickers. Three millimeter-thick adhesives no bigger than an oversize postage stamp, the nearly weightless Stickers--dubbed "nearables"--are an impressive evolution of the egg-sized Beacons that Estimote introduced in 2013.

“Beacons are a little bit like URLs for the physical world,” says Steve Cheney, cofounder and senior vice president. “We don’t know exactly how it’s all going to work out, from the experience level, but I think the apps you use the most will start to integrate beacon technology in a way where you assume it was always that way.” Like the larger Beacons, Estimote's Sticker-sensors, set to ship this fall to curious developers and companies eager to take advantage of the internet of things, help apps “see” their surroundings via motion and temperature sensors that communicate with nearby devices via Bluetooth.  ... " 

RFID and Beacons

A recent query reminded me that the RFID journal now covers Beacon type systems.  This is an interesting kind of application than might be expected for in-store beacons:

Epicurious to use Swirl Beacons to Deliver Localized Servces to In-Store Shoppers.  
In-store mobile marketing company Swirl Networks ( An iBeacon Network ) has announced a partnership with Epicurious, a Condé Nast online and mobile service focused food. The two companies say they plan to bring exclusive in-store digital experiences to Epicurious' audience. Swirl's marketing platform leverages Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to deliver targeted content and offers to consumers' smartphones, based on their specific location and behavior at the store.  ... " 

Retailer Carrefour to Test Beacons

In RFID Journal:  Another example of a data gathering activity that can lead to better analytics when combined with loyalty and other data.  Good detail in this article.

" ... Multinational retail chain operator Carrefour is planning to test Bluetooth beacons to track the movements of shopping carts at three of its Madrid stores this fall. The technology, provided by Proximus, is intended to allow the anonymous tracking of shoppers as they move through the stores, by identifying not an individual shopper himself but rather the shopping cart he is pushing. While in the long run, Proximus intends to offer the solution as part of a retailer's loyalty program that would track individuals via their mobile phones (as long as they opted in), the first step is merely to determine the carts' locations, rather than identify the shoppers using them ... " 

Smart Home Hub with Sensors

In GigaOM:  Continuing to look for intelligent hubs, with sensors that are adaptive to multiple conditions.    Here the ALYT:   " ... If the current generation of connected home hubs aren’t enough for you, then check out the Indiegogo campaign for ALYT (pronounced alight), which offers a slew of radios including Bluetooth and cellular for $149 or $179 depending on when you order. The idea is that ALYT acts as a redundant security system as well as a home automation center when combined with a package of sensors and video camera.  ...  "

New Markets from iBeacons

From Business Insider:  A new market, and is what Apple up to really different? " ... Beacons are a low-cost piece of hardware — small enough to attach to a wall or countertop— that utilize battery-friendly low-energy Bluetooth connections to transmit messages or prompts directly to a smartphone or tablet. They are poised to transform how retailers, event organizers, transit systems, enterprises, and educational institutions communicate with people indoors. Consumers might even want to deploy them as part of home automation systems.  ... " 

IBeacon Tech at CES

Interesting CW report from CES.  Currently looking at iBeacon and similar techniques for data rich opportunities leveraging location.    The presentation there includes a scavenger hunt using the technology.  " ... The thing about iBeacon is that this is not a wholly Apple technology. The devices used for the hunt are made by Radius Networks and Texas Instruments. iBeacons are short range, Bluetooth, low-energy transmitters that can notify mobile devices when they come within 100 feet of the beacon. You'll find these solutions deployed in Apple's retail stores and in future these will be applied within solutions for automatic ticketing, guided museum tours and location-relevant offers and promotions. ... "