Beacon, once considered as the next big thing in technology, has not yet arrived. Since Google has now solved major issues, it is expected to make the Beacon work soon. However, it has its pros and cons, with security issue being a major disadvantage. Beacons use the Bluetooth low energy (BLE) to send a unique identifier for connecting nearby mobile devices.

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According to the website WIRED, Beacons is defined in one statement as bedrock of the physical web. They are actually small transmitters used to transmit location information to nearby mobile devices. Its main purpose is to offer online shopping experiences to customers while shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. It will be designed in such a way that the items on the shelf will themselves send a text to customers. So there is no need to clip coupons for stuff to be bought.

Beacons have security issues, according to a recent study by Citizen Lab Org found from Open Effect. They discovered that even when not paired with any mobile device, most BLE trackers emitted unique identifiers. This led to the devices being tracked.

After nearby devices are connected to beacon, it can track the devices through the store. It helps retailers send location-based messages to customers and also alert them about offers based on their location. Beacon's simplicity is another reason for its success.

Since beacons rely on BLE, they become vulnerable to being tracked long-term, according to a study. Also, all customers would not want their mobile devices to be tracked when in a store. They are also mainly concerned about their privacy.

Google announced on April 14 via its official blog about a new "Ephemeral ID" to tackle privacy issues. This ID gives developers control to who can access a beacon signal and who cannot. Hence, it is possible that beacon will soon be launched full-fledged.