BeaconDB, Sailfish OS & Stumblefish

Beacon DB is a very interesting and important project designed to enable faster location detection on open, free smartphone systems such as Sailfish OS.
Anyone familiar with Mozilla Location Service (MLS) will already know what Beacon DB is intended to do following the discontinuation of MLS due to a patent lawsuit against Mozilla by the company ‘Skyhook Holding’, and the preceding patent dispute between Google and Mozilla regarding this technology:

The “Beacon DB” database essentially collects the locations of Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth beacons and mobile phone masts (“cell towers”). If a user of Beacon DB data (usually via a mapping service such as PureMaps or similar services) comes within range of a known Wi-Fi network (or Bluetooth beacon or mobile phone mast), the user’s smartphone can then determine an approximate location.

It is not as accurate as GPS, but when GPS is unavailable (e.g. in large buildings, underground facilities or because a GPS connection has not yet been established), it provides a rough guide. This significantly speeds up position determination via navigation software systems during the initial connection.

Until now, Sailfish OS has relied on MLS, but as this is due to be discontinued due to the patent dispute – or at least will no longer receive updates – Sailfish OS 5.1 and later versions will now use BeaconDB.

Of course, this technology only makes sense if sufficient data is available regarding the locations of Wi-Fi hotspots, beacons and mobile phone masts (let’s call them ‘spots’), and this is where ‘Stumblefish’ comes into play. StumbleFish can be used by volunteers to transmit the locations of Wi-Fi systems – on a purely voluntary basis, of course.

If you install the app and enable the relevant settings, Stumble Fish collects location data from such spots in a report on your own smartphone. You can view the data, check what is being transmitted, and then send the relevant information to Beacon DB. However, as mentioned, this only happens if the app user first explicitly consents to the data being collected and then sends the data themselves by tapping a button in the app. If you do not wish to do this, you can also delete the collected data. From that point onwards, the relevant data is then available in the database and can also help other users in the area.

You can download the app for Sailfish OS here:

If you uninstall the app, the data is deleted, and even the data you send is anonymous and contains no further information about the smartphone user, only the relevant location records.

If you’d like to find out more, feel free to watch this YouTube video on my channel: