Scientists discover that WiFi can be used to spy on you even if you're not online or connected

Your WiFi connection can be used to secretly track you, even if you’re not using it, a new study has found.

Most of us are conscious of keeping ourselves safe and personal information secure when we’re online. 

Creating strong passwords, making sure your device is using the latest operating system, and making use of advanced privacy features are all easy ways to stop yourself from being tracked online.

However, a team of researchers from German were able to identify people using nothing more than their WiFi connection.

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The team used WiFi to identify test subjects with a scary level of accuracy

Almost anywhere you go these days, you’ll find WiFi – from your home, to your workplace, your favorite cafe, and even on public transport and airplanes. 

However, a team of researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany, recently conducted a fairly worrying experiment that allowed them to identify people using nothing more than a WiFi connection. 

When it’s operating, modern WiFi uses something known as beamforming feedback information, or BFI for short, which is able to focus radio signals directly towards your device.

If these signals hit you, they bounce off and create a sort of digital shadow that follows you wherever you go. 

Now, this might not sound like such a big deal, but things become a little creepier if you consider that others can take a look at this radio image of you. 

The data sent over BFI isn’t encrypted and, somewhat scarily, can be accessible to anyone within range. 

In the experiments carried out, the researchers were able to use BFI to identify 197 test subjects with close to 100 percent accuracy, regardless of whether they were standing still, moving, or even attempting to hide. 

You don’t even need to be actively using the WiFi at the time.

“By observing the propagation of radio waves, we can create an image of the surroundings and of persons who are present,” Professor of IT security at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Thorsten Strufe said.

“Thus, it does not matter whether you carry a WiFi device on you or not.” 

Even switching off your device, won’t make a difference. 

“It’s sufficient that other WiFi devices in your surroundings are active,” he added.

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The team behind the study warned that the impact of privacy threats could be ‘severe’

What makes it even more concerning is that people don’t need any specialist equipment or tech, meaning anyone within range could use the information. 

According to Popular Mechanics, attempts to surveil people over WiFi used to require LiDAR, but with BFI, that isn’t necessary. 

And the study’s authors think it could have a big impact on privacy. 

“With WiFi networks being ubiquitous in our everyday lives, the impact of unknown privacy threats is likely severe,” the study reads. 

“[BFI] can infer the identity of individuals with very high accuracy, across different walking styles and perspectives, even with large sample sizes.”

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