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gloyoyo | 6 months ago

The local PD in my area has/had the laptops in their vehicles set to ad-hoc mode, and each broadcast static MAC addresses in the open, and could simply be looked up on the Wigle database. At about 100-yards, you could pick up the broadcast on any phone, and it would be trivial for someone to deduce that you could setup an active monitor w/ alerts for when these specific MAC addresses were present in a designated area, let alone what a distributed monitoring/alert effort would be capable of...

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mindcrime|6 months ago

a distributed monitoring/alert effort would be capable of...

Thinking out loud... an RTL-SDR dongle costs like $35.00 or so (well maybe more now due to tariffs, I haven't bought one in a while), plenty of relevant software is open source (GNURadio etc.), drones are cheap, small solar panels are fairly inexpensive. Hmm... I almost think a motivated individual (or small group of individuals) could piece together a rather capable "distributed monitoring/alert" system.

Not that I'm encouraging anyone to do such a thing, of course.

BobaFloutist|6 months ago

I don't even know that it's explicitly illegal. Google maps is allowed to warn you about speed traps.

NitpickLawyer|6 months ago

> an RTL-SDR dongle costs like $35.00 or so

FuzzyDunlop has graduated to HissyMarconi in The Wire season 12 :)

ian_d|6 months ago

There was actually a good DC31 talk called "Snoop On To Them, As They Snoop On To Us" kinda in this vein, but with Bluetooth devices that are part of a lot of cop's gear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO1JSzAdPM8

xav0989|6 months ago

Some people I know are building a similar system, watching for the printers that parking attendants carry to issue tickets. When they see one of those nearby, it starts the clock so that they move their car before the time expires.

HexPhantom|6 months ago

What's wild is how often agencies spend millions on comms gear and security tools, but overlook basics like this

thenthenthen|6 months ago

There is this Target Blue device that works in a similar way but based, i think on detection of p2000 encrypted signals. Basically an sdr. Anyway. I also believe it is highly illegal to use. Link: https://blu-eye.eu/