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Ankhsy
Homosapien
United Kingdom
7861 Posts |
 Posted - 07 May 2008 : 12:53:55 PM
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Worried about your civil liberties and privacy? Then it may come as a shock to discover that you have unwittingly been allowing your phone to signal your every move.
Bluetooth, a wireless link built into many cellphones, makes our movements trackable by anyone equipped with a PC and an appropriate receiver. Vassilis Kostakos at the University of Bath in the UK placed four Bluetooth receivers in the city's centre. Over four months, his team tracked 10,000 Bluetooth phones and was able to "capture and analyse people's encounters" in pubs, streets and shops.
Bluetooth is now more of a privacy threat than the more frequently publicised RFID chips, Kostakos says. "If people are worried, they should turn off the Bluetooth function on their mobile phones."
"We are Starfleet officers, weird is part of the job."
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 07 May 2008 : 1:06:45 PM
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A lot of this is caused by the fact that a lot of phones have Bluetooth turned on, but no-on every changes it so the phone is invisible (doesn't broadcast it's presence, also added to that is the fact that it uses battery power, so if you don't need it turn it off.
I'm not surprised though, just sit in any public place and get your phone to search for Bluetooth devices you will be amazed how many you can find.
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If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script???
http://andycanty.blogspot.com/ |
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Achilles
Small mammal
United Kingdom
519 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2008 : 4:21:21 PM
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I read that recent RSA reports warn that some manufacturers have shipped Bluetooth phones with the security facility disabled. Unless owners reconfigure the phones to enable security, they are easy targets for information pilferage. I think the only solution is to keep your Bluetooth turned off, unless you're using it.
In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.
Terry Pratchett |
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2008 : 4:51:52 PM
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yeah i saw a series on ITV (Ithink) called The REal Hustle, and one of them sat in cafe, and hotlinked to Bluetooth enabled web phones, and browsed the web on that persons credit, if you could stay near the phone the first they new about it was when the bill arrives.
Suffice to say mine is always off simply cause i rarely use it!
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If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script???
http://andycanty.blogspot.com/ |
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