{"id":20125,"date":"2020-01-28T16:22:08","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T16:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/beacon"},"modified":"2026-09-16T21:51:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:51:45","slug":"beacon","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/beacon","title":{"rendered":"Beacon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beacon\" Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A beacon<\/strong> is a resource that emits a signal or causes a request so that another system can detect a presence or interaction. In digital contexts, the term commonly refers to two different technologies: web beacons used in pages and emails, and Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, devices used for proximity detection.<\/p>\n

A web beacon can be a transparent one-pixel image requested from a server or an equivalent resource loaded through HTML or JavaScript<\/a>. A Bluetooth beacon, by contrast, is a small physical transmitter that periodically broadcasts an identifier for a compatible application to recognise.<\/p>\n\n

What beacons are used for<\/h2>\n

Web beacons indicate that a resource has been requested. They are used to measure the opening of certain emails, count page or resource loads, connect interactions with a campaign and obtain technical data sent with the request, such as the time, IP address or browser type. These data do not always identify a person on their own, and measurement may be limited by image blocking, privacy protections or intermediaries.<\/p>\n

Bluetooth beacons are used in indoor navigation, inventory, museums, events and proximity marketing<\/a>. They can help an application recognise that a device is near a beacon. The beacon does not send a notification to the phone by itself: the application, its permissions and the system settings determine which action is performed.<\/p>\n

How beacons work<\/h2>\n

When a browser<\/a> or email client loads a web beacon, it requests the resource from the server hosting it. That request may record technical information and, if it includes identifiers or is combined with cookies and other data, may be connected with a session, message or campaign. Disabling cookies can limit this association, but it does not necessarily prevent the server from receiving the resource request.<\/p>\n

Tracking is not limited to image tags. A script<\/a>, font, style sheet or another remote resource can also generate a measurable request. Identifying this activity therefore requires examining network requests rather than only searching the source code for one-pixel images.<\/p>\n

A BLE beacon broadcasts a short-range signal at intervals. The signal contains an identifier and, depending on the protocol, other basic data. A compatible phone or receiver can estimate proximity from the signal, although walls, interference, transmission power and device characteristics affect accuracy. The location or associated action is calculated by the application or system interpreting the signal.<\/p>\n

Beacons and privacy<\/h2>\n

Beacons can be involved in personal data processing when a request, IP address<\/a>, identifier or location can be connected with a person or device. The responsible organisation needs to explain their use and apply the consent, security, minimisation and data protection requirements relevant to the context and applicable law.<\/p>\n

Bluetooth beacons also involve application and operating-system permissions, such as Bluetooth, location or notifications. Restricting a permission may prevent particular functions, but the exact effect depends on the application’s design. A clear privacy policy should distinguish between the beacon’s broadcast, detection by the device and subsequent processing of the information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Definition: A beacon is a resource that emits a signal or causes a request so that another system can detect a presence or interaction. In digital contexts, the term commonly refers to two different technologies: web beacons used in pages and emails, and Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, devices used for proximity detection. A web […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[1281,1359],"class_list":["post-20125","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-connected-hardware","encyclopedia-tag-mobile-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/20125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=20125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}