“We show that accelerometer readings are a powerful side channel that
can be used to extract entire sequences of entered text on a smart-
phone touchscreen keyboard.”
Pending research to the contrary, I would assume that what is typed on the keyboard of a laptop can be recovered through the accelerometer by an application running in the background.
I wonder how many bits of entropy that fingerprint has, though. 8 bits would make for an impressive and scary looking demo, for example, but for ad tracking it would be useless.
It's not unthinkable that accelerometer data might reveal more information about a user than cursor motion and keyboard input. Home layout, restroom/kitchen/etc. habits, body type, chair type, and even the squishiness of one's clothing could conceivably be determined.
Is this -currently- the case? Highly unlikely. But will someone seek to profit from these data in the future? Probably.
“We show that accelerometer readings are a powerful side channel that can be used to extract entire sequences of entered text on a smart- phone touchscreen keyboard.”
Pending research to the contrary, I would assume that what is typed on the keyboard of a laptop can be recovered through the accelerometer by an application running in the background.