Bluetooth... Bluejacking... Bluespamming... - ad enough?

A Bluetooth backlash has been predicted as marketers start to use the short-range wireless communications standard to sell goods or attract people into venues.

Singaporean Adrian Chiang found fame by coining the phrase Bluejacking, meaning to surprise someone with an enabled Bluetooth device by sending them a message (and then watching their reaction, given their proximity).

However, the next stage, as outlined in a white paper from Rainier, looks set to be sending unsolicited commercial messages using the medium. The PR company has dubbed this 'Bluespam' and says it will be to the detriment of the standard overall.

One the one hand, at least this shows Bluetooth - thought up by Ericsson and initially launched alongside IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba - is becoming ubiquitous. A recent Frost and Sullivan study forecasts shipments of Bluetooth-capable devices will double in 2003, reaching at least 70 million units. Meanwhile Forrester says a fifth of mobile phones this year will include radio chips for the standard, designed by companies such as Cambridge Silicon Radio.

However, it could also turn end users against the technology. It has been given a boost in the UK this year as the government has outlawed driving with a phone held to the ear but has critics who say connecting devices isn't as easy as it should be.

The Bluetooth special interest group (SIG) is keen to play up the standard's security. Anders Edlund, Bluetooth SIG marketing director, said: "Bluetooth is unique amongst mass market wireless technologies for its high level of security, with key features incorporated into the initial version and enhanced in the newly announced version 1.2."

He called Bluejacking "highly imaginative" and a "currently fun approach" but doesn't seem overly concerned passers by will be Bluespammed as they walk past a certain café or cinema.

On the plus side, it is easy for users to protect themselves against the activity by turning off Bluetooth on devices (though that may not always be desirable) but Rainier also points out upcoming privacy legislation might not outlaw the practice.

The European Union Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations law, due to take effect from 11 December is generally interpreted to cover communication over networks. However, Bluejacking - or more accurately in this scenario Bluespamming - is a point-to-point activity that doesn't use a network. Legal eagles say new laws may not affect it.

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