Are Wi-Fi Routers Tracking You Even Without A Smartphone

A very shocking report has come out across the world regarding digital privacy and surveillance. Researchers at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have claimed that now even simple Wi-Fi routers installed in your home or public places can track you. Know what this technology is.

How Can Wi-Fi Routers Track A Human Being Without A Phone Or Device?

German researchers have developed a special hacking method called ‘BFID’ for this. It exploits a common feature of Wi-Fi ‘beamforming feedback information’ (BFI). This feature was provided in Wi-Fi 5 and later technology so that the router could improve the performance of the signal. But these signals float continuously in the air without any encryption (security lock). When a human walks into a room, these waves are interrupted, which any nearby Wi-Fi device can secretly capture.

How Accurately Can This Technology Identify A Person?

For this, researchers prepared ‘radio images’ of human movement using machine learning and AI models. It works just like a camera but creates images through radio waves instead of light. In a test performed on 197 people, this system identified people by their gait and body structure with 99.5% accuracy. That means now it is not necessary to have a smartphone, smartwatch, or any electronic device for tracking. This technology can monitor Wi-Fi by capturing movement from the human body in radio waves.

If Wi-Fi Does Not Know Our Name, What Threat Does It Pose To Privacy?

According to cybersecurity experts, although Wi-Fi data does not directly reveal your name, attackers can easily reveal your full identity by linking this tracking data to your old smartphone records or location history. The biggest danger is that you will not even know in public places, malls, or offices, and someone will be silently monitoring your every activity. This technology can become the biggest threat to political activists, journalists, and protesters.

What Is The Way To Avoid This?

Researchers have appealed to global tech entities and regulators to implement stronger privacy protection and encryption in future Wi-Fi standards. Unless Wi-Fi signals are encrypted internationally, the only practical way is to be overly cautious around public Wi-Fi and use new firmware updates that patch security vulnerabilities.

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