4 ms·

In Houston, TX, USA, I noticed antennas placed over individual highway lanes. It turns out they track the Bluetooth signals from cars to determine traffic. Th

In Houston, TX, USA, I noticed antennas placed over individual highway lanes. It turns out they track the Bluetooth signals from cars to determine traffic. They even have a message on their website saying people should be more worried about license plate tracking. https://www.houstontranstar.org/faq/traffictech.aspx https://www.houstontranstar.org/faq/traffictech.aspx On the OEM infotainment center in my vehicle, I can't even find a way to turn off Bluetooth.

0xdeadb00f 5y ago
Similarly in NSW Australia they had installed similar antannas on traffic lights/traffic light boxes. Iirc they would also track Bluetooth signals. Not sure they tracked the OEM infotainment stuff or just the drivers phone Bluetooth IDs
- anakaine 5y ago
  Can confirm that they do vehicles infotainment systems. NSW is also not the only state to have them.
foxfluff 5y ago
I just removed the bluetooth module from my car.
- post_break 5y ago
  You remove the TPMS too?
tclancy 5y ago
Yeah, I rewrote a system for a company that did this. If it makes you feel any safer, the original codebase was an error-prone mess written by an intern. It’s not any more, but all it did was ping for MAC addresses at both ends of the stretch. I suppose the data could prove your presence, but it’s the presence of your car really. At least with Apple the MAC gets cycled now.
- uuddlrlr 5y ago
  ok cool, did you leave a spare key under the mat so we can turn it off?
post_break 5y ago
You know what you cant turn off? TPMS. I mean you can remove them from your car, but those little guys broadcast and with the right equipment you can track cars with them.
- fortran77 5y ago
  Yes. The IDs are unique, fixed, and easy to pick up. You have to broadcast a low-frequency signal first to enable them and they'll emit a signal. There are several projects on GitHub to pick them up, and I've successfully done it. See: https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433 https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433
  - post_break 5y ago
    Did you do anything useful with the data? I'd love to just have a raspberry pi scanning and logging them with timestamps to archive with video.
    - fortran77 5y ago
      No, but I've been collecting all this data for a while and trying to see if there's a security business to be built around this. I do a lot of "RF" projects, so this is a natural extension.
0x000000001 5y ago
Iteris (formerly Traffic Cast) is a company that does this too https://www.iteris.com/products/travel-time https://www.iteris.com/products/travel-time
anakaine 5y ago
In one state I cannot mention, in Australia, there are at least 4000 of these things by the side of the road. During criminal cases its not unusual for a vehicles MAC address to be run through the database of collected data and matched to the vehicles location at a point in time. If the vehicle was also carrying correct plates then ALPR can be included. Prosecution gets to present a very pretty map with detailed timestamps. I cannot mention the state because their presence is not disclosed publicly.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

0xdeadb00f 5y ago

Similarly in NSW Australia they had installed similar antannas on traffic lights/traffic light boxes. Iirc they would also track Bluetooth signals. Not sure they tracked the OEM infotainment stuff or just the drivers phone Bluetooth IDs

anakaine 5y ago
Can confirm that they do vehicles infotainment systems. NSW is also not the only state to have them.

foxfluff 5y ago

I just removed the bluetooth module from my car.

post_break 5y ago
You remove the TPMS too?

tclancy 5y ago

Yeah, I rewrote a system for a company that did this. If it makes you feel any safer, the original codebase was an error-prone mess written by an intern. It’s not any more, but all it did was ping for MAC addresses at both ends of the stretch. I suppose the data could prove your presence, but it’s the presence of your car really. At least with Apple the MAC gets cycled now.

uuddlrlr 5y ago
ok cool, did you leave a spare key under the mat so we can turn it off?

post_break 5y ago

You know what you cant turn off? TPMS. I mean you can remove them from your car, but those little guys broadcast and with the right equipment you can track cars with them.

fortran77 5y ago
Yes. The IDs are unique, fixed, and easy to pick up. You have to broadcast a low-frequency signal first to enable them and they'll emit a signal. There are several projects on GitHub to pick them up, and I've successfully done it. See: https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433 https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433
- post_break 5y ago
  Did you do anything useful with the data? I'd love to just have a raspberry pi scanning and logging them with timestamps to archive with video.
  - fortran77 5y ago
    No, but I've been collecting all this data for a while and trying to see if there's a security business to be built around this. I do a lot of "RF" projects, so this is a natural extension.

0x000000001 5y ago

Iteris (formerly Traffic Cast) is a company that does this too https://www.iteris.com/products/travel-time https://www.iteris.com/products/travel-time

anakaine 5y ago

In one state I cannot mention, in Australia, there are at least 4000 of these things by the side of the road. During criminal cases its not unusual for a vehicles MAC address to be run through the database of collected data and matched to the vehicles location at a point in time. If the vehicle was also carrying correct plates then ALPR can be included. Prosecution gets to present a very pretty map with detailed timestamps. I cannot mention the state because their presence is not disclosed publicly.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]