**How everyday WiFi Routers can now secretly track and identify people**
A growing body of research is revealing an unsettling capability hidden within the WiFi routers found in homes, offices and public spaces across Kenya: the ability to monitor and identify individuals without their knowledge, using nothing more than the radio waves these devices already emit.
Scientists have demonstrated that by analysing the patterns in which WiFi signals bounce off and are absorbed by the human body, it is possible to distinguish individuals based on their physical characteristics and movement signatures. The technique, known as radio frequency sensing, does not require any special hardware — existing consumer-grade routers can be adapted for this purpose using software modifications.
For Kenya, where WiFi infrastructure has expanded rapidly in urban centres such as Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, the implications are significant. Shopping malls, hospitals, universities and government offices routinely deploy WiFi networks that customers and visitors connect to without considering what additional data those networks might collect.
The vulnerability is particularly relevant given Kenya’s ongoing efforts to regulate data privacy under the Data Protection Act of 2019, which mandates explicit consent for personal data collection. Legal experts argue that passive tracking via radio waves almost certainly falls within the Act’s scope, yet enforcement mechanisms have not been tested against this type of surveillance.
Security researchers stress that the technique is already within reach of moderately sophisticated actors, including private companies, criminal networks and state agencies. The attack leaves no trace on the target’s device and requires no interaction from the person being monitored.
The Communications Authority of Kenya has not yet issued specific guidance on radio frequency-based surveillance, though consumer advocates are calling for updated router certification standards that would require manufacturers to disclose and restrict such capabilities before their products reach the Kenyan market.
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