Bluetooth Security Eaves Dropping

jizmo on 23/08/2023 - 15:19

On a 7 Hr flight home, listened to some music with my ear buds for a while, put the ear buds back in the charge case, then tried to get some sleep. Couple hrs later, I've popped them back into my ears and someone else is musics playing, no mater what I couldn't get it to pair back with my phone.
Ended up pushing forward back skip buttons until whoever had the phone turned off their BT, and then I could reconnect onto my phone.

This got me thinking, If this happened in a supermarket, someone could be eaves dropping on a call. I don't know how I got connected to someone else's phone, it just happened.

Electrical & Electronics Bluetooth Earphones Earphones

Comments

  • Bargainitis on 23/08/2023 - 15:34
    +4

    there is usually a "pairing" confirmation that needs to happen before they connect.

    Strange….

  • kerfuffle on 23/08/2023 - 15:35
    +2

    Could it be a NFC pairing from the person who sat next to you?

    • jizmo on 23/08/2023 - 16:24

      None I could see playing with their phone.
      Just those cheap Lenovo XT80 worth about $10 USD I was using that connected.

  • djsweet on 23/08/2023 - 16:24
    +1

    This happened to me with a keyboard at work. Kept typing on someone else's computer. We have the same keyboard and I tried to pair at the same time by chance. Probably someone paired with you by accident. The buds probably support something like this and don't require to be put into pairing mode.

  • rumblytangara on 23/08/2023 - 16:30
    +3

    This got me thinking, If this happened in a supermarket, someone could be eaves dropping on a call. I don't know how I got connected to someone else's phone, it just happened.

    This wouldn't happen. The phone pairs to one device, and then if it's paired, the audio goes to it. So you'd be talking on your phone going "what, what, is anybody there?" and hearing silence.

    • Mechz on 23/08/2023 - 17:20

      Exactly this.

  • JuanLove on 23/08/2023 - 20:09

    The newer style of minimal earbuds enter pairing mode whenever the case is opened. The person on the phone clicked connect when you opened your case. It seems to work really easily with same-brand devices.
    A similar thing happened once with someone sitting beside me on a plane. I accidentally paired my phone with their earbuds. We were both trying to listen to music simultaneously, and my phone said something like "connect to Buds 2 Pro?" or something, and I was like, yes, of course, I have Buds 2 pro. It took us like 10 mins to undo it. I have a Samsung and always get requests to pair it with Samsung air purifiers at work.

  • bmerigan on 23/08/2023 - 20:29

    No that won't happen without you knowing and stopping the conversation therefore it's not eavesdropping.

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