SoniControl - A Mobile Ultrasonic Firewall

TL;DR

This paper introduces SoniControl, a mobile ultrasonic firewall that detects near-ultrasonic data exchange to address privacy concerns and provides users with tools to prevent unauthorized hidden communication.

Contribution

It presents the first ultrasonic firewall capable of reliably detecting ultrasonic communication and offers practical means for users to prevent privacy breaches.

Findings

Successfully detects ultrasonic data exchange in real-time

Empowers users to prevent unwanted ultrasonic tracking

Demonstrates practical application of ultrasonic privacy protection

Abstract

The exchange of data between mobile devices in the near-ultrasonic frequency band is a new promising technology for near field communication (NFC) but also raises a number of privacy concerns. We present the first ultrasonic firewall that reliably detects ultrasonic communication and provides the user with effective means to prevent hidden data exchange. This demonstration showcases a new media-based communication technology ("data over audio") together with its related privacy concerns. It enables users to (i) interactively test out and experience ultrasonic information exchange and (ii) shows how to protect oneself against unwanted tracking.