Reuters reports that researchers are using Bluetooth technology to track people who are attending the Werchter festival near Brussels, Belgium.

“We have installed 36 Bluetooth scanners across the site and along a few surrounding roads, as well as bus stops,” the [University of Ghent in Belgium]’s Nico Van de Weghe said on Friday of the project at the Werchter festival, northeast of Brussels this weekend.

Within a radius of 30 meters, the scanners track mobile phones equipped with Bluetooth, a type of short-range wireless technology which allows different devices to connect with one another, often to transfer files.

But the masses flocking to see Coldplay, Kings of Leon or Metallica need not worry about their privacy, Van de Weghe said.

The researchers will only track the devices’ MAC address — a number that identifies each device on a network — which cannot be traced to phone numbers or personal details. [...]

The team is carrying out research on geographical information systems, such as satellite navigation systems, and is hoping to be able to track moving objects in real time.

“Tracking movements via Bluetooth could become very interesting. It could help retailers keep track of the number of customers numbers at different times, ” Van de Weghe said.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 and is filed under Anonymity, Identification, International, Security, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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