3 ms·

> In other words, certain governments or companies ... can create an app that report the fact that they have been close to a person of interest in the last few

> In other words, certain governments or companies ... can create an app that report the fact that they have been close to a person of interest in the last few weeks. So this assumes that any random app installed by a user will have open access to the contact database? That seems unlikely to me, but I have not read the full spec.

posnet 7y ago
Governments don't need it. The model suggested links nearby bluetooth mac addresses which get linked to the phones IMEI, and governments already have multitudes of legal ways to link names to IMEIs.
- ryeguy_24 7y ago
  Where did you read that it links to the phone's MAC Address/IMEI? I can't find IMEI being mentioned in any of Apple's spec documents.
  - g_p 7y ago
    There isn't any IMEI linkage. I think the post you reply to is implying the link between Bluetooth MAC address to IMEI could be established by a state actor. That isn't the case though, due to Bluetooth MAC address randomisation, which the paper does address - the 10-minutely identifiers advertised are updated in sync with the local device updating its own MAC address, to prevent correlation between the last MAC address and next one.
- pdkl95 7y ago
  Cell tower based contact tracking is already used to infer someone's social graph and pattern-of-life. Bluetooth association data - even with opaque tokens - can easily be correlated with cell tower movement to refine CO-TRAVELER style analysis. Cell-tower-resolution analysis is already very powerful - it can trivially reveal someone's associations and overall behavior. When correlated with short-range proximity data, I suspect the same analysis might reveal behavioral details within a organization ("which meetings you attend" instead of merely "what address you work at"). https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations-worldwide-snowden-documents-show/2013/12/04/5492873a-5cf2-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-t... https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/meet-co-traveler-nsas-cell-phone-location-tracking-program https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/meet-co-traveler-nsas-...
  - pinkfoot 7y ago
    In a previous life we we also able to identify the owners of anonymous (burner) SIM cards. Even crooks and anarchists lead very predictable lives.

posnet 7y ago

Governments don't need it. The model suggested links nearby bluetooth mac addresses which get linked to the phones IMEI, and governments already have multitudes of legal ways to link names to IMEIs.

ryeguy_24 7y ago
Where did you read that it links to the phone's MAC Address/IMEI? I can't find IMEI being mentioned in any of Apple's spec documents.
- g_p 7y ago
  There isn't any IMEI linkage. I think the post you reply to is implying the link between Bluetooth MAC address to IMEI could be established by a state actor. That isn't the case though, due to Bluetooth MAC address randomisation, which the paper does address - the 10-minutely identifiers advertised are updated in sync with the local device updating its own MAC address, to prevent correlation between the last MAC address and next one.
pdkl95 7y ago
Cell tower based contact tracking is already used to infer someone's social graph and pattern-of-life. Bluetooth association data - even with opaque tokens - can easily be correlated with cell tower movement to refine CO-TRAVELER style analysis. Cell-tower-resolution analysis is already very powerful - it can trivially reveal someone's associations and overall behavior. When correlated with short-range proximity data, I suspect the same analysis might reveal behavioral details within a organization ("which meetings you attend" instead of merely "what address you work at"). https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations-worldwide-snowden-documents-show/2013/12/04/5492873a-5cf2-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-t... https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/meet-co-traveler-nsas-cell-phone-location-tracking-program https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/meet-co-traveler-nsas-...
- pinkfoot 7y ago
  In a previous life we we also able to identify the owners of anonymous (burner) SIM cards. Even crooks and anarchists lead very predictable lives.