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HomeScout: A modular Bluetooth Low Energy Sensing App

MA
State: Assigned to Qianhui Wang
Published: 2023-02-04

This project focuses on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices and cross-platform app development. Since Apple's AirTag release, there has been continuous interest in the tracker's ability to protect users' privacy and protect them from being spied on or stalked [1, 2].

Nevertheless, this opens up the world to many other scenarios, where any BLE device can be either attached to Apple's Find My network [4] or utilized on its own to track a person, their habits, and location. Therefore, an application that tracks any BLE devices that come in contact with the user's smartphone both on the go and in a smart home environment is beneficial. This work focuses on:

Since design is a key element of this work, there is a degree of freedom in deciding how to approach the problem and how to implement the solution.

Project Question: What BLE information is necessary to identify a specific BLE device?  What would be the best way to categorize or classify said devices into groups or types? How can we score the gathered information according to privacy or security requirements? 


[1] https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2022/02/10/apple-airtags-privacy-update-stalking/6738071001/

[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60004257

[3] https://tidbits.com/2021/05/15/13-airtag-tracking-scenarios/

[4] https://github.com/seemoo-lab/openhaystack#finding-3

[5] https://ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1049/ntw2.12007

[6] http://personales.upv.es/thinkmind/dl/conferences/securware/securware_2019/securware_2019_6_20_30082.pdf

30% Design, 60% Implementation, 10% Documentation
Some experience or interest in app development with Flutter/Dart or Swift

Supervisors: Katharina O. E. Müller

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