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Bluetooth Surveillance Tested In the UK
Posted by
kdawson
on Tue Apr 22, 2008 02:37 PM
from the turn-the-darn-thing-off dept.
from the turn-the-darn-thing-off dept.
KentuckyFC writes "If you live in the city of Bath in the UK and carry a Bluetooth-enabled device, your movements may have been secretly monitored in an experiment designed to test surveillance techniques in prisons. Researchers from Bath University recorded the movements of 10,000 Bluetooth-enabled devices during their 6-month trial. They say the experiment was a test of a technique for monitoring the interactions between prisoners in jail that could be used to work out which inmates have become closely associated. The work was prompted by revelations that the Madrid train bombers who devastated the city in 2004 first met in a Spanish prison (abstract)."
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mandatory bluetooth collars next??? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:mandatory bluetooth collars next??? (Score:4, Funny)
Want to buy some tin-foil? Your head looks cold.
Parent
Re:mandatory bluetooth collars next??? (Score:4, Interesting)
It's already too late. The sun is setting on democracy in the UK.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I suspect the guards. (Score:3, Insightful)
Prisoner-A and Prisoner-B commit a terrorist act of child pornography and BOTH of those prisoners will have had contact with Guard-C in Prison-D. Therefore, every other prisoner who had contact with Guard-C is a potential terrorist child pornographer.
Really. That's all that you're going to find from this. This is a waste of money.
That explanation smells like bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
RFID is a far better choice - it's passive (no batteries) and it's cheap. I bet the purpose of Bluetooth tracking is to track non-imprisoned people.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem is the Corporations don't like it and they have more power then a bunch of un-herded sheep. Together the sheep have the power but with so many rumours and misinformation it's easier to divide and conquer them then the few CEOs that hold all the power o
Not even pretending. (Score:2)
Who wants to bet that this data will be subpoenaed in a case in the future?
Re:Not even pretending. (Score:4, Interesting)
While two university students don't represent your whole population, the tolerance you people have of being watched by cameras all day does. Frankly, I find your countrymen somewhat distubring for supporting 24/7 pervasive surveillance.
And it's not a non-issue. It's a demonstration of a technique to track the coming and goings of non-criminal citizens for the purpose of determining who they associate with. So what if they claim the ultimate goal is tracking actual prisoners? They've demonstrated a far more useful purpose for it for a nanny state. Can you not imagine the utility this would have in tracking down members of protest groups? This is so much easier to sort through than video footage.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Right, right. Apparently, they're called "witness summons" now for people, though I have no idea what you call subpoena duces tecum nowadays. I'm sure that you have some procedure for compelling potential witnesses to a crime to appear and present documents -- like this data.
The presenting of data which was legally gained to a court of law is not an invasion of privacy. There's nothing personally identifiable in the data they've collected, so it would be challenging to actually link this to a potential crime.
While two university students don't represent your whole population, the tolerance you people have of being watched by cameras all day does. Frankly, I find your countrymen somewhat distubring for supporting 24/7 pervasive surveillance.
Good combination of exagerration and an absolutely ridiculous generalisation that isn't substantiated by a single fact. I'm going to hazard a guess that you only get your information about the UK and security issues from Slashdot articles, which is a pretty sure-fire way
Aren't Bluetooth devices for communication? (Score:2)
I mean, what kind of devices you give to prisoners so they are not able to hack and communicate without being close to each other?
hmm (Score:2)
Sure while in prison a prisoner may talk to someone who may have ties to a terrorist organization. But if/when they get out and they do not commit terrorist acts, the hours spent on tracking him would be for not.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh puhleeeese! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
How is this different than.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Then don't broadcast? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
What about battery life issues? and the devices... (Score:2)
So tell me why.... (Score:2)
-A PC is set up as a "server" station.
-Off The Shelf earpieces are paired up to the bluetooth dongle.
-Server keeps a record of what's paired to it.
-Remote PC's act as access points that check with the main machine to see what earpieces are paired to the system and who they are assigned to for symbolic link purposes.
In my quasi-clued brain, I can see the outline for a locater s
Re:I've been experimenting with this a while. (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:I've been experimenting with this a while. (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Last-Measure [nationmaster.com]
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Maybe even set it up so you press a button, and it randomly picks another bluetooth signal nearby and starts broadcasting that one. Would entirely defeat the system, and cost maybe 20$ and a bit of time at radioshack.
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously prisons are a poor solution to the "undesirable waste persons" created by our economic system.
No, they do their job well. A pot farmer goes to prison and learns how to rape children and bomb trains. As far as teh government is concerned, growing pot is far worse than rape and murder.
It's a matter of a government's priorities.