'This technology turns every router into a potential means for surveillance': Report claims Wi-Fi devices could 'quietly identify' people with nearly 100% accuracy

Ordinary Wi-Fi networks can reportedly identify people without cameras or consent KASTEL researchers achieved nearly 100% identification accuracy across 197 volunteers tested Wi-Fi signals can reportedly reveal people from different viewing angles A new study suggests that ordinary Wi-Fi networks co

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>Ordinary Wi-Fi networks can reportedly identify people without cameras or consent</strong></li><li><strong>KASTEL researchers achieved nearly 100% identification accuracy across 197 volunteers tested</strong></li><li><strong>Wi-Fi signals can reportedly reveal people from different viewing angles</strong></li></ul><p>A new study suggests that ordinary Wi-Fi networks could be repurposed to identify individuals without cameras, sensors, or their knowledge or consent.</p><p>Researchers from KASTEL, the Institute of Information Security and Dependability at KIT, tested the approach on 197 volunteers in controlled conditions.</p><p>Their system reportedly achieved nearly 100% identification accuracy regardless of a person's viewing angle or the way that person walked.</p><h2 id="a-method-that-needs-no-extra-hardware">A method that needs no extra hardware</h2><p>The technique relies on beamforming feedback information, a type of signal that connected devices routinely send back to a router.</p><p>This information is transmitted without any encryption, meaning anyone within range of the network could potentially intercept and read it.</p><p>By analyzing these radio signals over time, the system reportedly builds images of people from multiple viewpoints inside a space.</p><p>Earlier wireless sensing methods often required specialized equipment, such as LIDAR sensors or detailed measurements of channel state information from a network.</p><p>By contrast, the researchers say a standard, unmodified Wi-Fi device is entirely sufficient to carry out this new identification process.</p><p>"By observing the propagation of radio waves, we can create an image of the surroundings and of persons who are present," said Thorsten Strufe, a professor at KASTEL, KIT's Institute of Information Security and Dependability.</p><p>"This works similar to a normal camera, the difference being that in our case, radio waves instead of light waves are used for the recognition.</p><p>A user does not need to carry a phone, smartwatch, or other Wi-Fi-enabled device for the system to work.</p><p>Turning off one's own device would reportedly not prevent identification, since other active Wi-Fi devices nearby could still be used.</p><h2 id="privacy-concerns-extend-beyond-conventional-surveillance">Privacy concerns extend beyond conventional surveillance</h2><p>The researchers argue that widespread wireless networks could create privacy concerns because they operate throughout homes, offices, restaurants, cafés, and other public environments.</p><p>Felix Morsbach noted that intelligence agencies and cybercriminals already have simpler methods, including compromising CCTV systems and connected video doorbells.</p><p>“The omnipresent wireless networks might become a nearly comprehensive surveillance infrastructure with one concerning property: they are invisible and raise no suspicion,” Morsbach added.</p><p>Compared with existing surveillance options, such as CCTV footage or connected video doorbells, wireless signals leave no visible trace behind.</p><p>Professor Strufe cautioned that this same invisibility could make the technology particularly attractive within certain authoritarian political systems around the world.</p><p>"The technology is powerful, but at the same time entails risks to our fundamental rights, especially to privacy," said Strufe.</p><p>Ordinary <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/networking/routers-storage/best-router-9-top-wireless-routers-on-test-1090523">routers</a> could potentially enable people to be recognized without their knowledge during routine movements, and this could be dangerous in the wrong hands.</p><p>Therefore, widespread deployment could make individual encounters difficult to distinguish from ordinary wireless activity.</p><p>The researchers argue that privacy safeguards should be incorporated into Wi-Fi technology before such capabilities become widely and easily exploited.</p><p>Specifically, they are calling for protections to be written into the forthcoming IEEE 802.11bf wireless standard currently under active development.</p><p>Via <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260811052857.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ScienceDaily</a></p><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:676px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:31.51%;"><img id="diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78" name="tr-g_news" alt="Google logo on a black background next to text reading 'Click to follow TechRadar'" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="676" height="213" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div></figure> </article> ]]>