this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
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It isn't clear to me from the article whether a device would need to have connected with any of the wifi networks previously or if the device somehow recognizes the existence of said network and performs some kind of hand shake. This seems important. My devices don't automatically connect to anything except my home, hidden network, but I would like to know how this works.
The article was very clear that this isn't fingerprinting your devices. You could have zero devices, but you walk into a café and other people's devices are all screaming radio waves, including BFI data, which bonuses off your physical body, forming an image of you
That unencrypted BFI data can then be listened-to by a nearby attacker who would process the data in a ML algorithm, and identify you with near 100% accuracy.
That's what the article said.
I went thru the article again, and with your input it seems pretty obvious. Without it, tho, it is clear I have a reading comprehension issue that I am not excited about.
Thank you for moderating!! I've read about this (wifi sensing bodies) before and am not excited.