What if devices were constantly
screaming out your personal information?

TURNS OUT THEY ARE.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

This project is an invitation to always be aware that very comfortable feature do not come for free. In order to be able to instantly connect to our wifi network when entering our home, our phone is constantly screaming out our information, trying to connect to our favorite networks. This information can be intercepted by any wireless antenna in monitor mode, and could also be used to determine where we live or places we usually go to.

Are we willing to give up
some of our comfort for not being tracked?

THE SCREAM METAPHOR

Lots of automated processes are happening at the same time when we use our devices and we don’t even notice. What if we could give voice to this processes, thus understanding more and more what our devices are constantly up to? What if they could Scream ’n shout and let it all out? (will.i.am ft. Britney Spears).

COLLECTED INFORMATION

I have collected wi-fi data from students at Politecnico di Milano by using a simple bash software called ProbeOSX. This tool allows anyone to collect Probe requests from nearby devices. It then returns several information:


    - date: timestamp of collection
    - strength of signal: is the device close to me?
    - MAC address: unique identification code
    - SSID: Name of the network
    - vendor: What brand is the device linked to?

DOWNLOAD THE DATASET

COLLECTED INFORMATION

I have collected wi-fi data from students at Politecnico di Milano by using a simple bash software called ProbeOSX. This tool allows anyone to collect Probe requests from nearby devices. It then returns several information:


    - date: timestamp of collection
    - strength of signal: is the device close to me?
    - MAC address: unique identification code
    - SSID: Name of the network
    - vendor: What brand is the device linked to?

DOWNLOAD THE DATASET

DE-ANONYMIZING DATA

In order to link more data to the information collected by ProbeOSX, we can use digital tools like WiGLE.
WiGLE (or Wireless Geographic Logging Engine) is a website for collecting information about the different wireless hotspots around the world. Users can register on the website and upload hotspot data like GPS coordinates, SSID, MAC address and the encryption type used on the hotspots discovered. In addition, cell tower data is uploaded and displayed.

PROJECT INSPIRED BY

Mind Your Probes: De-Anonymization of Large Crowds Through Smartphone WiFi Probe Requests

The reason why exposing personal information as simple as wifi probes could be dangerous is explained in this research paper from Università La Sapienza di Roma by Adriano Di Luzio, Alessandro Mei & Julinda Stefa

© Andrea Silvano 2021