3 ms·

How can they stop 5G?

dane-pgp 5y ago
The parent comment may look like a baseless conspiracy theory, but it is worth considering the unintended consequences for privacy of bombarding public areas with more radio data. For example: > Researchers in the US have used WiFi signals to detect the gait of people through walls and match it to video footage in order to identify individuals. https://www.theengineer.co.uk/wifi-walls-walkers-gait/ https://www.theengineer.co.uk/wifi-walls-walkers-gait/
- trompetenaccoun 5y ago
  Exactly right. But I wouldn't be sure those who agreed to the new coalition agreement understand any of this. Germany's legislature is hopelessly clueless when it comes to tech stuff (and other matters). It also appears to me that even many who do understand the danger aren't thinking their stance through properly. We live in a data world now more than ever. Data is power, data can be used as a weapon. I'm completely against mass surveillance, the same way I'm against war. At the same time, if the EU forbids any data collection in that regard, even by private companies, then the ones producing and controlling this data will be the likes of the US and China without doubt. Already facial recognition is used in machine learning, to auto-verify IDs, to catch criminals on the run, and for all sorts of other purposes. This is part of a much larger problem. We're under surveillance not just by cameras but microphones in devices all over, satellites, the various sensors in our phones, digital payment, social media activity, and so forth. Heck, most EU citizens have "smart" meters monitoring their electricity use now, which have been found make the leaking of all sorts of private information possible. The internet makes it all possible and in all cases I know about governments have not been proactive in legislation making. A blanket ban seems like an absolutely helpless and populist "solution" to the problem.
- blurbleblurble 5y ago
  There are dozens+ papers like that specifically focused on mm-wave stuff, "passive" localization/identification/sensing. Gait doesn't go far enough to describe it. It's basically the equivalent of face recognition tech but in the mm-wave spectrum with standard router hardware. The various mm-wave bands being used in 5G (and being proposed for "6G") are much more dense (spatially and information theoretically) than the < 5GHz bands, but sparse enough compared to visible light that many obstacles are quite translucent. mm-wave antenna arrays are kinda just big low frequency eyeballs. Here's an old comment with some references: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22480444 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22480444 And a video to drive it home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBFMsY5ZP0o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBFMsY5ZP0o

The parent comment may look like a baseless conspiracy theory, but it is worth considering the unintended consequences for privacy of bombarding public areas with more radio data. For example: > Researchers in the US have used WiFi signals to detect the gait of people through walls and match it to video footage in order to identify individuals. https://www.theengineer.co.uk/wifi-walls-walkers-gait/ https://www.theengineer.co.uk/wifi-walls-walkers-gait/

trompetenaccoun 5y ago
Exactly right. But I wouldn't be sure those who agreed to the new coalition agreement understand any of this. Germany's legislature is hopelessly clueless when it comes to tech stuff (and other matters). It also appears to me that even many who do understand the danger aren't thinking their stance through properly. We live in a data world now more than ever. Data is power, data can be used as a weapon. I'm completely against mass surveillance, the same way I'm against war. At the same time, if the EU forbids any data collection in that regard, even by private companies, then the ones producing and controlling this data will be the likes of the US and China without doubt. Already facial recognition is used in machine learning, to auto-verify IDs, to catch criminals on the run, and for all sorts of other purposes. This is part of a much larger problem. We're under surveillance not just by cameras but microphones in devices all over, satellites, the various sensors in our phones, digital payment, social media activity, and so forth. Heck, most EU citizens have "smart" meters monitoring their electricity use now, which have been found make the leaking of all sorts of private information possible. The internet makes it all possible and in all cases I know about governments have not been proactive in legislation making. A blanket ban seems like an absolutely helpless and populist "solution" to the problem.
blurbleblurble 5y ago
There are dozens+ papers like that specifically focused on mm-wave stuff, "passive" localization/identification/sensing. Gait doesn't go far enough to describe it. It's basically the equivalent of face recognition tech but in the mm-wave spectrum with standard router hardware. The various mm-wave bands being used in 5G (and being proposed for "6G") are much more dense (spatially and information theoretically) than the < 5GHz bands, but sparse enough compared to visible light that many obstacles are quite translucent. mm-wave antenna arrays are kinda just big low frequency eyeballs. Here's an old comment with some references: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22480444 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22480444 And a video to drive it home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBFMsY5ZP0o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBFMsY5ZP0o