Something I noticed recently…
WiGLE added Bluetooth device scanning and database functionality to their Wardriving app a year or so back. Originally, I would see a few things pop up in it, usually headsets and car entertainment systems.
Now, it seems like everything comes with Bluetooth and no fecking power switch.
This is the result of just leaving scanning active overnight as people and their Bluetooth devices move past. The newer BLE stuff has…. kinda terrifyingly long range.
It makes me think… If WiGLE is scanning this for nerds like me, there’s gotta be some shady-ass analytics company using Bluetooth to track everyone without their consent and selling that data.
Personally I use maybe three Bluetooth devices regularly, and they are all switched off when not in active use. Without trying to correlate addresses to vendors or anything, I’m just going to empirically blame Apple’s crappy AirPods for a lot of these potential tracking beacons.