this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2026
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266
Comcast turns your Xfinity WiFi into a home motion detector (www.bleepingcomputer.com)
submitted 5 days ago by just_another_person@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
66 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Make no mistake, this is 100% going to be Comcast's alternative to more expensive surveillance options a la Flock, or workplace presence sensor arrays.

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[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago (5 children)

If anyone didn't already know, this isn't anything new. It's basically just WiGLE but not public level, and is using that to track devices coming and going.

You don't need Xfinity WiFi to do this. Everything you have with a BT or WiFi antenna is already out there and everyone can see it. It's logged and recorded. Can literally see my neighbour's got two iPhones moving around right now and I didn't even get out of bed. Oh, they also have a JBL Encore Essential... That explains something that happened last week.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Nope: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/wi-fi-routers-used-to-detect-human-locations-poses-within-a-room

It's gotten even more capable where it can basically act as a presence sensor through walls as well. It's not simple device tracking at all.

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

That was not what you should've gotten from my point.

But, yes. That is also obviously correct.

Edit: Granted, my bad for really dumbing down the wider scope of it. I re-read the comment now seeing why, when regarding the specifics of signal disruptions of a network for identifying—which is a part of IDing and tracking secondary to the actual top layer identifying—is a thing. Thought that went without saying...

Am learning this is somehow surprisingly new to people. Which is honestly the bigger concern.

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