Worse than a facial recognition system? - Researchers have demonstrated that routers can identify individuals using wireless signals. - A person can be identified even without a device or with their phone turned off. - A router could become a covert monitoring tool, making this surveillance method both invisible and difficult to detect. - Such a method raises urgent questions about privacy regulations similar to those now being debated around facial recognition. Using wireless signals and artificial intelligence could turn a router into a monitoring system, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have found. The study also revealed that a person can still be identified even if their smartphone is shut down or they don’t carry it with them at all. It’s enough that they’re surrounded by other people whose devices are communicating with each other. “By observing the propagation of radio waves, we can create an image of the surroundings and of persons who are present,” explained Professor Thorsten Strufe from KIT’s Institute of Information Security and Dependability. The expert compared it to a camera, but the difference is that “radio waves instead of light waves are used for the recognition.” The research reveals that it’s possible to turn any router into a surveillance device, raising serious privacy concerns. “If you regularly pass by a café that operates a WiFi network, you could be identified there without noticing it and be recognized later, for example, by public authorities or companies,” shared Julian Todt, a PhD researcher at KIT. How does surveillance through WiFi work? While there are different types of surveillance technologies available for quick identification, what makes wireless network surveillance stand out is that it’s almost everywhere and doesn’t raise suspicion because you can’t really see it. This surveillance method also doesn’t require any extra hardware,