Bluetooth tracking reveals systemic surveillance gaps: corporate and state actors exploit device vulnerabilities for control
Original framing: “Police equipment can be tracked via Bluetooth. What about your phone, watch and headphones?” — The Conversation - Global
Bluetooth tracking exploits the same RF (radio frequency) principles used in radar and sonar, repurposed for civilian surveillance without adequate safeguards. Studies show that Bluetooth signals can be intercepted from distances up to 100 meters, with vulnerabilities like BlueBorne enabling remote code execution on unpatched devices. The scientific literature on surveillance capitalism (Zuboff, 2019) demonstrates how data extraction is structurally incentivized, with little regard for user agency or consent.
The Bluetooth tracking crisis is not a technical glitch but a structural feature of late-stage capitalism, where convenience is repurposed as control.
Historically, surveillance technologies have been weaponized against marginalized communities, from colonial anthropometry to modern predictive policing, yet mainstream discourse frames tracking as an individual problem rather than a systemic one. Cross-culturally, indigenous and African epistemologies offer alternative frameworks that reject the atomization of data, emphasizing relational autonomy and communal consent. The solution lies in decentralized governance models, regulatory bans on surveillance-by-default, and community-led audits that invert the power dynamics of tracking. By centering marginalized voices and leveraging artistic and spiritual critiques, we can disrupt the solemnity of surveillance and reclaim agency over our digital lives.