Archive · 18 Aug 2025
AI System Uses Radar to Eavesdrop on Phone Calls
Scientists have created an AI that can listen to your phone calls without you knowing.
They use radar, like the kind in self-driving cars, to pick up tiny vibrations from your phone's speaker.
This radar data is then fed into an AI program called Whisper, which tries to figure out what was said.
The system isn't perfect, but it can understand parts of the conversation.
This could be a problem because someone could use this tech to spy on private calls.
The researchers are worried because as radar gets smaller and cheaper, it will be easier for others to secretly listen in on phone calls.
This means we might need new ways to protect our privacy.
Researchers at Penn State University developed an AI system for eavesdropping on phone calls using radar.
The system uses radar to detect and analyze vibrations from a smartphone's earpiece during calls.
Millimeter-wave radar sensors, like those in 5G networks, collect vibration data from up to 10 feet away.
AI tool Whisper, with adjusted parameters, reconstructs phone call transcripts from radar data.
The AI system achieved approximately 60% accuracy in reconstructing calls using a 10,000-word vocabulary.
- Who
- Researchers at Penn State University developed the technology.
- What
- An AI system was developed that can eavesdrop on phone calls using radar technology.
- When
- The research was presented at the 18th ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks (WiSec 2025).
- Where
- Penn State University conducted the research.
- Why
- To explore the potential of using AI and radar for eavesdropping and to highlight the associated privacy risks.
Researchers
General Public
Research Purpose vs. Potential Misuse
Researchers
Focus on academic exploration and understanding of vulnerabilities.
General Public
Potential for misuse and privacy violations.
- Research Institution
- Penn State University
- Technology Used
- AI, Radar
- Radar Type
- Millimeter-wave
- AI Model
- Whisper
- Accuracy Rate
- Approximately 60%
- Vocabulary Size
- 10,000 words
- Eavesdropping Distance
- Up to 10 feet