Ordinary WiFi can now identify people with near perfect accuracy(sciencedaily.com)
sciencedaily.com
Ordinary WiFi can now identify people with near perfect accuracy
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260522023127.htm
8 comments
I wonder how fast the law in say Austria will forbid using WiFi. They already forbid using (or even having installed) a video camera in your car, as it is invading other drivers privacy.
No, Austria doesn't forbid using (or even having installed) a video camera in your car, in itself.
But they do forbid RECORDING and PUBLISHING (e.g. on social media) videos where a SPECIFIC car (identifiable by the license plates) is visible, or SPECIFIC people (must fuzz them, and maybe edit out voices). Per their DPA's interpretation of data privacy; not the police. The best writeup I found is by Amazing_Bluebird_ at [0a].
(I see some conflicting reports where the Austrian *data protection authority (not the police) gave people civil fines (not tickets) just for having a camera. Sounds like those can be overturned by appealing.
I wonder how Austrian Teslas handle all this. Apparently Tesla Sentry Mode ("Guardian Mode") in public spaces in Austria is heavily restricted and generally considered illegal under GDPR.
[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/Austria/comments/1l3a2gj/sind_dashc...
[0a]: https://www.reddit.com/r/Austria/comments/1l3a2gj/comment/mv...
[1]chttps://www.reddit.com/r/bih/comments/1l2yi9r/dashcam_u_aust...
But they do forbid RECORDING and PUBLISHING (e.g. on social media) videos where a SPECIFIC car (identifiable by the license plates) is visible, or SPECIFIC people (must fuzz them, and maybe edit out voices). Per their DPA's interpretation of data privacy; not the police. The best writeup I found is by Amazing_Bluebird_ at [0a].
(I see some conflicting reports where the Austrian *data protection authority (not the police) gave people civil fines (not tickets) just for having a camera. Sounds like those can be overturned by appealing.
I wonder how Austrian Teslas handle all this. Apparently Tesla Sentry Mode ("Guardian Mode") in public spaces in Austria is heavily restricted and generally considered illegal under GDPR.
[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/Austria/comments/1l3a2gj/sind_dashc...
[0a]: https://www.reddit.com/r/Austria/comments/1l3a2gj/comment/mv...
[1]chttps://www.reddit.com/r/bih/comments/1l2yi9r/dashcam_u_aust...
[deleted]
That's crazy so if your car gets broken into you can't see who did it?
Yeah sounded crazy to me but I looked it up and it's basically true! Apparently there are a narrow set of circumstances where it is allowed, but it's like if it is low resolution and pointing down etc. so it seems like in practice you can't.
Title: Ordinary WiFi can now identify people with near perfect accuracy
Subtitle: Scientists say ordinary WiFi routers may soon be able to secretly recognize and track people with near-perfect accuracy.
Come on now. Flagged.
Subtitle: Scientists say ordinary WiFi routers may soon be able to secretly recognize and track people with near-perfect accuracy.
Come on now. Flagged.
"In tests involving 197 participants, the researchers said the system identified individuals with nearly 100% accuracy. The recognition remained effective regardless of viewing angle or how the participants walked."
These things always have carefully controlled setups. If you read the article, the participants had to wear non-baggy clothes and walk past the routers in a prescribed way (although they did at least have them do a couple of different walk styles, e.g. carrying some water).
Perhaps more importantly, they train the model on known people doing the same normal walk past the routers 16 times.
It's definitely impressively accurate but still quite far from the real world (and the authors acknowledge that).
Perhaps more importantly, they train the model on known people doing the same normal walk past the routers 16 times.
It's definitely impressively accurate but still quite far from the real world (and the authors acknowledge that).