this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2024
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Uhhh that exact technology has been in use for years. Your phone broadcasts/receivers a beacon at regular intervals while Bluetooth is on. Anyone can pick it up if they are looking.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html
The process is so streamlined companies bragged your advertising profile is updated before you check out.
This kind of monitoring and association technology is so advanced that Target famously had to turn it down because it was creeping out customers.
So, if you download apps like a Boomer downloads free tool bars, you've got something to worry about.
Also, doesn't Android only give location data to apps you're actively using?
The user may not be aware they have this tracking technology on their phone. The toolkit may be some app developer integrating a 3rd party library for analytics. Banking apps, loyalty apps, phone companies, games, utilities... they all can rely on 3rd parties for proximity services.
In fact, I was going to mention an app, Exodus, that can reveal these trackers and in scanning my phone, I found 2!. The first is home assistant, which is understandable, but the second is a Health app my doctor office uses! Man, that irks me!