{"id":189181,"date":"2025-02-22T15:18:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T15:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=189181"},"modified":"2025-02-23T18:40:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T18:40:03","slug":"wi-fi-cell-towers-may-soon-be-spying-on-you-without-your-consent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wi-fi-cell-towers-may-soon-be-spying-on-you-without-your-consent\/","title":{"rendered":"Wi-Fi, Cell Towers May Soon Be Spying on You Without Your Consent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wireless radiation could be used to surveil people without their knowledge or consent, even if they aren\u2019t wearing a \u201csmart\u201d device or holding a cellphone, according to the authors of a new study<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The study authors \u2014 engineering faculty members with the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science at the University of Porto, Portugal \u2014 posted their report Jan. 24 on the Cornell University open-access research website, arXiv<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The study showcases hardware the authors designed that leveraged ambient wireless radiofrequency (RF) radiation to detect and render a visual image of human activity \u2014 such as waving a hand or a person\u2019s breathing rate \u2014 with over 90% accuracy.<\/p>\n

Their design involved a thin programmable surface \u2014 a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) \u2014 that communicates with computers and artificial intelligence (AI).<\/p>\n

RIS can manipulate and steer Wi-Fi signals in controlled ways, explained Fariha Husain, manager of Children\u2019s Health Defense\u2019s (CHD) Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless Program. \u201cBy adjusting how radio waves reflect off this surface, the researchers were able to enhance signal-sensitivity and improve their ability to detect subtle human movements<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Husain said:<\/p>\n

\u201cRIS panels can be strategically placed to optimize wireless signal reflection and steering and may take any shape or be integrated into objects. Indoors, they can be mounted on walls, ceilings or furniture.<\/em><\/p>\n

Outdoors and in urban areas, they can be installed on offices, airports, shopping centers, lampposts and advertising billboards. Additionally, RIS panels will enable smart city surveillance by tracking pedestrian and vehicle movement<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

RIS hasn\u2019t been incorporated into current wireless networks \u2014 but it\u2019s in the works for 6G, according to W. Scott McCollough, chief litigator for CHD\u2019s EMR & Wireless cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuture 6G networks will have RIS functionality built in<\/em>,\u201d he said, \u201cand it would not surprise me if they don\u2019t implement RIS in the future 5G updates<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proponents of RIS say it will help with automation and monitoring healthcare patients. \u201cBut several industry and government reports on 6G straight-up say they want to use these capabilities for surveillance<\/em>,\u201d McCollough said.<\/p>\n

Husain said the technology poses \u201cdangerous implications for mass surveillance, personal privacy and data security<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCullough agreed, noting that the study authors are engineers, not ethicists. \u201cTheir job is to figure out how to make it work, usually without much thought about the ethical implications of the machines they build<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Defender<\/em> asked the study authors to comment on the privacy implications of their research but did not receive a response by the deadline.<\/p>\n

McCollough said he\u2019s been speaking out against this kind of technology for a long time.<\/p>\n

Although the study author\u2019s particular design is novel, the idea that RF radiation can be used through RIS technology to surveil people isn\u2019t new, McCollough said.<\/p>\n

McCollough added:<\/p>\n

\u201cThink radar or sonar (which uses sounds). It\u2019s about following the waves as they go outward from the transmitter and seeing when they bounce, get slowed down or get absorbed. You can, with sufficient computing power, draw a 3D image of what is inside the beam and then proceed to identify it<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technology can be used \u2018even when people are uncooperative\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the study, the authors did a series of experiments with their RIS hardware design involving large datasets. The experiments showed the design was highly effective at sensing three different hand gestures \u2014 even when the person gesturing was obstructed by a wall or object.<\/p>\n

According to their report<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis capability allows the system to focus electromagnetic fields on selected body parts while minimizing interference from the surrounding environment and enables the system to distinguish between various hand signs and monitor vital signs, such as respiration, even when people are uncooperative or positioned behind obstacles<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authors said their research advances \u201cthe state of the art on RF based solutions for Human Activity Recognition (HAR), specifically within the context of emergent sixth generation communications<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

They are making their design available as open-source to accelerate research.<\/p>\n

Similar technology already on the market<\/strong><\/p>\n

Husain said the technology behind the study authors\u2019 design is similar to Origin AI<\/a>, a technology already on the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrigin is a commercial Wi-Fi sensing technology developed by former DARPA [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency] contractor Ray Liu that can localize motion with over 90% accuracy and even capture breathing patterns<\/em>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Origin AI advertises its technology will \u201cmake your home smarter, safer, and more secure<\/em>.\u201d Its website states:<\/p>\n

\u201cWith ORIGIN AI, your ISP or security company transforms smart devices into advanced virtual sensors, creating an intelligent home ecosystem to enhance security, connectivity, and convenience<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 2022 interview<\/a>, Liu explained the development of the technology:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe first realized we could perform precise indoor positioning, then we realized we could detect whether a door was closed or open. Soon after, we found that we could sense a person through the wall by establishing the world\u2019s first radio biometrics.<\/em><\/p>\n

From there, the applications snowballed \u2014 we could pick up breathing, monitor sleeping, detect a fall, recognize gait patterns, and even pick up sound without a microphone<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nFebruary 22, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wireless radiation could be used to surveil people without their knowledge or consent, even if they aren\u2019t wearing a \u201csmart\u201d device or holding a cellphone, according to the authors of a new study. The study authors \u2014 engineering faculty members with the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science at the University of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1093],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-189181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-censored-news-social-5127-en-censored-sensational-news-3480-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189185,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189181\/revisions\/189185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}