Bluetooth « frère » dépiste le festival-goers

Les chercheurs emploient Bluetooth technologie pour observer les meanderings des dizaines de milliers de festival-goers à un festival européen supérieur de roche, espérant leurs résultats lancera une nouvelle génération de dépister des dispositifs.

L'équipe de l'université de Gand en Belgique croit que la recherche pourrait rapporter de nouvelles demandes satellites de navigation de secteurs de détail et de sécurité.

« Nous avons installé 36 modules de balayage de Bluetooth à travers l'emplacement et le long de quelques routes environnantes, aussi bien que des arrêts d'autobus, » Nico Van de Weghe dit le vendredi du projet au festival de Werchter, nord-est de l'université de Bruxelles ce week-end.

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.

“Werchter is a very interesting case,” Van de Weghe told Reuters, adding that this is the first time his team, working on a wider research project using new technology to track moving objects, will collect full data on a live situation.

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.

The technique could also be used by security services to track suspicious movements, or monitor evacuations at mass events.

Some 80,000 people from across Europe attended a sweltering first day of the festival in the small town of Werchter, 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Brussels, on Thursday, with thousands more expected on Friday and over the weekend.

(Reporting by Antonia van de Velde; editing by Mark John)

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