A very shocking report has emerged from around the world regarding digital privacy and surveillance. Researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany have claimed that now even ordinary Wi-Fi routers installed in your home or public places can track you. Let’s know what this technology is: How can Wi-Fi routers track a person without any phone or device? German researchers have developed a special hacking method called ‘BFID’ for this. It takes advantage of a common Wi-Fi feature called ‘Beamforming Feedback Information’ (BFI). This feature was provided in Wi-Fi 5 and later technologies so that routers could improve signal performance. But these signals keep floating in the air continuously without any encryption (security lock). When a person moves in a room, these waves get interrupted, which can be secretly captured by any nearby Wi-Fi device. How accurately can this technology identify a person? Researchers used machine learning and AI models to create ‘radio images’ of human movement. This works exactly like a camera, but creates pictures through radio waves instead of light. In tests conducted on 197 people, this system identified people with 99.5% accuracy based on their gait and body structure. This means that for tracking, it is no longer necessary to have a smartphone, smartwatch, or any electronic device. This technology can conduct surveillance by capturing the disturbances caused by the human body in Wi-Fi radio waves. If Wi-Fi doesn’t know our name, then what threat does this pose to privacy? According to cybersecurity experts, although Wi-Fi data doesn’t directly reveal your name, attackers can easily expose your complete identity by linking this tracking data with your old smartphone records or location history. The biggest danger is that in public places, malls, or offices, you won’t even realize that someone is silently monitoring your every activity. This technology can become the biggest threat for political activists, journalists, and protesters. What is the solution to avoid this? Researchers have appealed to global tech organisations and regulators to implement strong privacy protection and encryption in future Wi-Fi standards. Until Wi-Fi signals are encrypted at an international level, the only practical way is to remain extremely cautious around public Wi-Fi and use new firmware updates that patch security vulnerabilities.
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