A security flaw means the location of devices used by police, potentially including undercover officers and those travelling home, is visible to anyone with a phone or laptop.
Couple of sensationalized things. Undercover cops aren’t carrying a body cam or taser. That would be easy to spot in person.
Next bluetooth is short range. You gotta be decently close. Like 25 feet give or take.
Commentary, of course the company was lazy. It costs money to add the feature to rotate mac addresses.
Ordinary bluetooth 25-30 feet in ordinary conditions, up to 100’ or more “in the open.”
Using a high-gain directional antenna, a Bluetooth “base station” can detect and identify an ordinary consumer device (like a smartphone or earbuds) at distances ranging from 175 meters to approximately 450 meters (1,476 feet) under optimal line-of-sight conditions.
So, if you’ve got a “secret meeting point” you could conceivably setup checkpoints on all the access roads and detect police travelling along those roads within 200-300 meters OF THE DETECTOR - the detectors can be setup miles from the meeting point…
Couple of sensationalized things. Undercover cops aren’t carrying a body cam or taser. That would be easy to spot in person.
Next bluetooth is short range. You gotta be decently close. Like 25 feet give or take.
Commentary, of course the company was lazy. It costs money to add the feature to rotate mac addresses.
With a proper custom antenna you can track bluetooth devices from larger distances
Interesting. How far?
Never tried myself, but big boys say 1-2km, depending on ambient noise levels, if no major obstacles in the way.
Ordinary bluetooth 25-30 feet in ordinary conditions, up to 100’ or more “in the open.”
Using a high-gain directional antenna, a Bluetooth “base station” can detect and identify an ordinary consumer device (like a smartphone or earbuds) at distances ranging from 175 meters to approximately 450 meters (1,476 feet) under optimal line-of-sight conditions.
So, if you’ve got a “secret meeting point” you could conceivably setup checkpoints on all the access roads and detect police travelling along those roads within 200-300 meters OF THE DETECTOR - the detectors can be setup miles from the meeting point…