SONICONTROIL

Novel technologies like Google Nearby and Silverpush build upon ultrasonic sounds to exchange information. More and more of our devices communicate via this inaudible communication channel. Ultrasonic communication enables to pair devices, exchange information but also to track users and their behavior across several devices similar to cookies in the web. Every device with a microphone and a speaker is able to send and receive ultrasonic information. The user is usually not aware of this inaudible and hidden data transfer. To overcome this gap, within the project SoniControl we research the current capabilities of ultrasonic communication and raise awareness for this unknown communication channel. To date there is no technology available that detects ultrasonic communication and that enables the user to protect his or her privacy. We develop a mobile application that detects ultrasonic activity, notifies the user and blocks the information on demand. Thereby, we want to raise the awareness for this novel technology and help users to protect their privacy.

Check out our video for a short introduction of the project (in German)

Radio

TV

Newspaper