Mitigations: turn off bluetooth when not in use, delete unused apps (these beacons might be installed in random apps that are getting paid by the grocery store or whatever) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html
Also: negative memes
what do you mean Maty?
In the article, Facebook internal memos described execs there being worried about âpeople freaking outâ and that they may âspread negative memesâ about Facebookâs Bluetooth beacon initiative - just illustrates that they donât take criticism of their products seriously and see the concerns (privacy or otherwise) of users as somehow irrational. Industry in general seems to view themselves as âthe good guysâ (like âvocational aweâ in libraryland) and that transparency/exposure of how their products work and why is the palpable related threat, not the harm it will cause.
Yes! I am so glad to see this article. My brother-in-law works for one of these beacon companies and the amount of data they collect on people is disturbingâespecially since hardly anyone knows about them. As with all the things weâve been talking aboutâeven âanonymizedâ data is easily identifiable when it is combined with other things.