When you have “friends” like America?
The Danish government has ordered public officials across Greenland and Denmark to deactivate Bluetooth on both professional and personal devices, citing increasing concerns about foreign surveillance capabilities. The move affects civil servants, police officers, and military personnel operating in national and territorial institutions.
Though the Danish government did not link its Bluetooth directive to Trump’s statement, the timing has drawn attention. Greenland’s geographic position makes it critical for NATO operations and Arctic resource planning, adding strategic pressure to protect communications infrastructure within Danish jurisdiction.
I’m going to be honest here, I didn’t realise that Bluetooth – ironically named after a Danish King who united the many tribes of the country during his reign – was that hackable. The only issues that I’ve ever (knowingly) had, was a bit of annoying interference on the way to my Sony speaker.
But apparently, it’s a thing:
A related article from Radar.dk points to a security flaw involving Fast Pair, a proprietary feature developed by Google that streamlines Bluetooth device pairing. Unlike standard Bluetooth protocols, Fast Pair establishes connections with minimal user interaction, which has raised concern about silent pairing and unauthorized device access.
One comment cited in Radar.dk describes how certain devices can be turned into covert listening tools. Specifically, a vulnerability in the Airoha Bluetooth audio SDK was identified as allowing Bluetooth audio devices to pair without user approval. These exploits highlight a broader risk: even inactive or unpaired devices can be accessed if firmware is outdated or unsecured.
We must presume that the Danish authorities knew about this potential vulnerability before this last week. And it’s interesting that until the whole Greenland thing came up, they apparently had no issue with anyone potentially listening in on their state workers. Because there was probably very little of interest being said. As I pointed out when the whole Covid “passport” thing was suggested: Don’t try to fool yourself: you’re simply not important enough for the government (or anyone else) to be interested in you.
But apart from that, this also suggests that the Danish authorities are therefore now talking – sensitively – about the threat that America poses. Otherwise, why would they have any issue with the Yanks listening in?
But will it really make any difference anyway?
The Bluetooth ban has also reignited scrutiny of European dependence on U.S.-made technology. Though Denmark has not commented on specific hardware or software vendors, public reactions on Radar.dk questioned why national agencies continue to rely heavily on platforms developed by Apple, Google, and other non-EU companies.
And they all run their servers and devices on Chinese-based electronics. And so the circle goes. So maybe it’s all completely pointless and everyone should be playing open handed here. After all, it does seem that everyone already has the means to know what everyone else is saying and doing.
Airpods or not.