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Smart Shielding: Using ML and AirTag RSSI Data for Better Privacy

Katharina O. E. Müller, Samuel Frank, Dario Monopoli, Daria Schumm, Bruno Rodrigues, Burkhard Stiller

IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) (venue) · Sydney, Australia, 14-16 October 2025 · 2025

Preprint IEEE
Figure from Smart Shielding: Using ML and AirTag RSSI Data for Better Privacy

Bluetooth trackers like AirTags are cheap, ubiquitous, and, in the wrong hands, a stalking tool. This paper asks whether signal strength (RSSI) combined with machine learning can better detect and protect people who are being tracked without consent. Using 13,353 labeled entries collected with real AirTags across tracking scenarios, it trains and compares classifiers to strengthen the protective side of crowd-sourced finding networks such as Apple’s Find My.

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Cite this paper (BibTeX)
@inproceedings{muller2025-smart-shielding,
  author    = {Katharina O. E. Müller and Samuel Frank and Dario Monopoli and Daria Schumm and Bruno Rodrigues and Burkhard Stiller},
  title     = {{Smart Shielding: Using ML and AirTag RSSI Data for Better Privacy}},
  booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN)},
  year      = {2025},
  address   = {Sydney, Australia},
  url       = {https://sensing-group.com/files/papers/2025-smart-shielding-airtag.pdf}
}