Technique records Wi-Fi signals used by mobiles to track ‘entire populations’
- The new system can track you based on the Wi-Fi you connect to
- When two users connect at similar times it suggests they are together
- Android users are particularly susceptible, as the majority of the applications available in Google Play Store has access to Wi-Fi information
While connecting to the Wi-Fi might seem like a good way to save precious data, you might want to think twice before logging on.
A new system has been designed that uses Wi-Fi signals to track where you are and who you're with.
The system reveals that many external applications have access to this sensitive information, which could be seen as an 'erosion of privacy'.
While connecting to the Wi-Fi might seem like a good way to save precious data, you might want to think twice before logging on. A new system has been designed that uses Wi-Fi signals to track where you are and who you're with (stock image)
Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark devised the new system, which they say could be used to spy on people.
In their paper, the researchers, led by Piotr Sapiezynski, write: 'The idea of exploiting Wi-Fi signals for this purpose is not new.
'However, to our best knowledge, researchers have not yet tested this approach in practice, over a long period, and in a large population that interacts in various environments.'
'WiFi can be efficiently used for high-resolution mobility tracking of entire populations… and infer who people interact with, not only where they are,' they added
In their study, the system tracked 800 participants by studying which Wi-Fi networks they connected to, and when, to slowly piece together their movements.
But the system goes one step further than this, to work out 'physical proximity between pairs of individuals' by looking at the Wi-Fi signals they both pick up.
For example, the system can track when two users are picking up the same Wi-Fi signal which suggests that they are in the same place.
The researchers suggest that the main privacy issue with the system will affect Android users.
The system can track when two users are picking up the same WiFi signal
which suggests that they are in the same place (stock image)
They wrote: 'A vast majority of the applications available in Google Play Store has access to Wi-Fi information, including all the scan results requested by the system as often as every 15 seconds.'
But they add that this problem has been addressed in the latest version of Android.
They wrote: 'In the latest versions of the system an application has to hold a location permission to listen to Wi-Fi scan results.
'However, the vast majority of handsets currently in use will not receive these crucial updates.'
