I was wondering if I would see these stories again. I saw something about it months ago, assumed it was just tinfoil nuttery. This definitely warrants a closer look.

There are a few technologies that use Bluetooth for stat tracking. For example if you have a company with a physical address google can send you a small device that is totally self contained with a battery in it. It constantly scans for Bluetooth MAC addrs. You put it at the entrance to your store and that's one of the ways google maps can give people historic and live stats on how many people are there.

Just something to think about: go look at 5G coverage maps. I did for my state and found the coverage super confusing. I expected to see it deployed mainly in densely populated areas like downtown and affluent areas. Instead it's almost exclusively on the highways here. And sometimes just a small stretch of highway in super remote areas.

Why would people need 5G more while driving than they do at some downtown area with tons of seating? Why is the infrastructure being deployed in areas that make much more sense for tracking purposes than anything else?