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Comment by hatsix | Hacker News Reader

> It's pretty clear that Apple is positioning themselves in stark contrast to Google, they want to be the privacy/security company. Internet companies with advertising business models are a dime a dozen so that is a real advantage that differentiates Apple.

Yes, Apple certainly wouldn't develop/release a product whose sole purpose is to track user's physical presence, with the primary use point being able to sell the ability to push 'app usage': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBeacon http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/06/03/apples-ios-8-uses-...

This is about the ability to track handsets, and how Apple wants to corner the market on tracking their own handsets.

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No, you misunderstand iBeacon. The sole purpose of iBeacon is to let handsets detect it, not the other way around.

In order to for it to be used to track users, the user would have to run an app that detects the beacon and then communicates back to the business. In other words, the user has to opt in to tracking.

> No, you misunderstand iBeacon. The sole purpose of iBeacon is to let handsets detect it, not the other way around.

You are wrong, the point of iBeacon is to allow an app to track its position.

Apple is not about privacy, they're about controlling what they consider to be their customers. They will be the gateway the users go through for any service whatsoever. They get their 30% no matter what.

Huh?

The big difference is opting in and consent. That’s what’s important. Also, yeah, Apple get their 30% – but only if apps actually cost anything. Those store apps usually don’t cost anything (the stores want to sell the stuff in the stores, not apps) so they will cost Apple money, not make Apple money.

I don’t really get where you see the incentive for Apple to do this, besides privacy.

You are confusing geolocation with tracking. Geolocation merely lets the handset determine where it is. "Tracking" implies there is another party involved in monitoring your location. That can't happen with beacons unless the user runs an app that communicates your location back to a third party -- which it could do with regular old GPS geolocation too. iBeacons are just another way to do geolocation.

Also, iBeacon broadcasts can be detected by Android, or any other platform that wants to. I'm surprised no one has said this on the thread. It's clearly not about Apple lock-in.

Here's an Android library for doing it: http://developer.radiusnetworks.com/ibeacon/android/

The difference is that for iBeacon to track devices the user has to download an app related to the beacons and give permission. MAC address tracking happens without the user giving consent.

Is it not possible to track devices based on their Bluetooth MAC?

If you have discoverable mode on, sure. But typically that's specifically user-activated and only lasts for a couple of minutes.

I'm working at a place that uses a simple app running on a Raspberry Pi to update a dashboard whenever a known Bluetooth MAC comes into the building, with no need to turn on discoverability or pair with the Pi.

flawed metrics buddy, bluetooth mac address is randomized.

Not on the iPhones and Android phones of the people whose names are consistently correctly displayed on the dashboard. The MAC address had to be entered into the dashboard software manually, but no interaction was required on the phone whatsoever.

if I recall correctly, Apple's Bluetooth BLE UUID is also randomized while in broadcasting mode.

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