[telecom] Bluetooth people trackers in payphone kiosks in NYC

It's in the article that was linked in the message:

Beacons are Bluetooth devices that emit simple signals that smartphones can pick up. They're best known for their growing use in commercial settings: in stores, for example, to alert customers to sales, or in stadiums, to tell patrons which entrances are least crowded.

Per danny burstein:

I thought my device had to consent to be paired with another BlueTooth device.

The article seems to suggest that a nearby BlueTooth device can pair with my phone with no interaction from me.

Can somebody explain?

Here's some more information about iBeacon:

It doesn't go into much detail about this, but I gather that Bluetooth Low Energy doesn't require the devices to pair with each other explicitly. It seems to be the same technology used for using a smartphone to pay for something by holding it next to the POS terminal.

The beacon simply broadcasts its UUID, and the mobile device may send back its UUID in response. For many uses, the device doesn't have to respond -- the iBeacon-enabled application uses the beacon's UUID to determine its location, and display appropriate information or ads.

The way you're tracked isn't by detecting the device directly. Rather, it's because the application needs to look up the beacon's UUID over the Internet, to find out what it should display. The server that provides this information can record information about which device queried it, and which beacon it was looking up.

Look up BTLE ("Bluetooth Low Energy"). It's a somewhat different beast than "classic" BlueTooth.

Per Barry Margolin:

Thanks. I feel vindicated...

Now we need somebody to tell us how this stuff happens without the target cell phone's consent....

When you install an app that uses iBeacon, that's the consent.

Hopefully the app allows you to opt in/out of using this (unless, of course, that's the only point of the app).

- - Barry Margolin, snipped-for-privacy@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA

Since the company serves multiple cities, including mine, please tell the readers how to spot "beacon-enabled" aps. This kind of thing worries me.

Bill Horne Moderator