Glossary

Bluetooth Low Energy, the short-range, low-power wireless standard the mobile app uses to talk to your device. It is the same family as the Bluetooth in headphones and trackers, tuned for small, frequent messages rather than streaming.

The band of radio frequencies below one gigahertz, used by garage and gate remotes, tyre-pressure sensors, weather stations and many alarm sensors. Echo listens to and decodes this band.

Human Interface Device, the USB standard for keyboards, mice and game controllers. A ZeroTrace HID device presents itself to a computer as one of these trusted input devices.

Moving through an area, on foot or by vehicle, while a device records the wireless networks and signals it sees, usually tagged with location. It builds a map of the radio environment for surveys and research.

Open-source intelligence, investigation using information that is publicly available, such as public records, websites and network data. The ZeroTrace OSINT suite is a workbench for this kind of research.

A sequence of proxy servers that traffic passes through in turn, so a request travels via several hops rather than one. The Proxy suite can build and rotate these chains automatically.

A small Bluetooth beacon designed to help locate belongings, such as Apple AirTag, Samsung SmartTag or Tile. The same technology can be misused to follow a person; AirLeak devices detect nearby trackers and warn you when one appears to be travelling with you.

A widely used public database and file format for logging wireless networks with their locations. AirLeak Pro can save its findings as WiGLE-compatible files for use with mapping tools.

The Model Context Protocol, a standard way for software to expose its tools to an AI assistant. The OSINT and Proxy suites can act as MCP servers so an assistant can use their tools on your behalf, locally.

Firmware is the software that runs on a device itself. OTA (over-the-air) updates deliver new firmware to a device wirelessly, in ZeroTrace's case over Bluetooth from the mobile app, so you can keep a device current without a cable.