Vulnerabilities in the way Bluetooth Low Energy is implemented on devices by manufacturers can open the door to global device tracking for the Windows 10, iOS and macOS devices that incorporate it, according to research from Boston University.
An academic team at BU uncovered the flaws, which exist in the periodically changing, randomized device addressing mechanism that many new-model Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices incorporate to prevent passive tracking. A paper on the issues (PDF) was presented Wednesday at the 19th Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium.