Republican campaign put beacons on lawn signs to track phones, company says

Chances are you’ve seen lawn signs in your neighborhood before an election. But you probably never imagined they could track you. 

A Republican presidential primary candidate attached devices known as beacons to campaign lawn signs in 2016 to track the phones of people who passed by, according to a company that sells them. 

The company, Beaconstac, which counts tech giants like Google among its customers, wouldn’t divulge which campaigns it worked with. But it's not hard to see why a campaign would want to use the small, wireless devices, which use Bluetooth to ping nearby smartphones to collect data and trigger notifications. Spread by eager supporters, they’re capable of precisely targeting likely voters in key districts, encouraging them in text messages to get to the polls. Read more...