Beacons

Bluetooth beacons --a small wireless device that works based on Bluetooth Low Energy. It repeatedly transmits a radio signal that any bluetooth-equipped device in its vicinity can see. Compared to cell towers and GPS locators, bluetooth beacons can measure the target device’s location in inches, and are therefore favored by retailers to track customers’ every movement indoors. Beacons also alert the companies’ servers of the customers location using apps on customers’ phones. These devices nowadays are so ubiquitous that they can be found and hidden in most public places, like on shelves and mezzanines, and encoded in everyday apps.

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Regardless of whether people are online or offline, beacons are monitoring them for different purposes like profiling, tracking, or trading with location data companies. The greatest problem that arises from this method of tracking is the lack of transparency, as we don’t fully know what kind of data is collected by the beacons. Hence, privacy, security and proper disclosure of tracking beacons should be our primary concern in the near future.

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Sources:

1. Kontact.io. What is a Beacon? The Complete Guide to Bluetooth Beacons.

https://kontakt.io/what-is-a-beacon/

2. Kwet, Michael. New York Times. (2019). In Stores, Secret Surveillance Tracks Your Every Move.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html