Eye Spy Mini | Compact Surveillance, Tracker, ALPR & Drone Awareness Detector
$79.99
Eye Spy Mini | Compact Surveillance, Tracker, ALPR & Drone Awareness Detector
Broad Wireless Surveillance Awareness in a Pocket-Sized Device
Eye Spy Mini brings the open-source Eye Spy surveillance-awareness platform to a compact, affordable device with an integrated color display.
Built on the M5StickC Plus SE ESP32 platform and shipped by STS Collective with Eye Spy firmware preinstalled, Eye Spy Mini monitors nearby Bluetooth LE and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi activity for supported wireless signatures associated with personal trackers, automated license plate readers, body-camera equipment, drones, surveillance cameras, smart glasses, iBeacons, and other devices.
Eye Spy Mini provides local visual and audible feedback through its integrated display and alert hardware.
Unlike our purpose-set FlockYou products, Eye Spy takes a broader approach to wireless surveillance awareness. It rotates between multiple detection engines and combines observations into a simple CLEAR, CAUTION, or ALERT score.
No cloud account. No subscription. No required phone.
Eye Spy is an open-source project developed by SimeonOnSecurity.
View the Eye Spy source code, detection logic, documentation, and development history on GitHub.
What’s Included
• 1 × Eye Spy Mini
• Eye Spy ESP32 firmware preinstalled
• Built-in 1.14-inch color display
• Visual detection and score information
• Audible detection alerts
• Bluetooth LE monitoring
• 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi scanning
• Passive Wi-Fi promiscuous monitoring
• Confidence-based aggregate scoring
• Integrated rechargeable battery
• Physical controls
• Pocket-sized enclosure
• No cloud account required
• No subscription required
• Ready to use out of the box
What Eye Spy Looks For
Eye Spy is designed for broad wireless surveillance and tracking awareness rather than concentrating on one type of infrastructure.
Current Eye Spy detection logic includes supported signatures associated with:
• Flock Safety ALPR systems
• Motorola Solutions and Vigilant Solutions ALPR/LPR systems
• Axon equipment
• Apple AirTags
• Samsung SmartTags
• Tile trackers
• OpenDroneID-compatible drones
• Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses
• Surveillance and IP cameras
• Apple iBeacons
• Supported Bluetooth modules associated with some card-skimmer designs
• MeshCore nodes
• Persistent unidentified Bluetooth LE devices
• Additional supported surveillance and tracking signatures
Supported surveillance-camera manufacturer signatures include equipment from vendors such as Hikvision, Dahua, Axis, Ring, Nest, Arlo, Wyze, Reolink, FLIR, Amcrest, Vivotek, Hanwha, Mobotix, and Ubiquiti UniFi.
Eye Spy identifies supported wireless characteristics. A detection does not establish the ownership, purpose, or use of a nearby device.
Open-Source Eye Spy Firmware
Eye Spy Mini ships preconfigured with the open-source Eye Spy project.
The firmware combines Bluetooth LE monitoring, Wi-Fi scanning, promiscuous Wi-Fi monitoring, wireless signature matching, persistent-device tracking, and aggregate scoring.
Researchers and developers have direct access to the detection logic, signature tables, scoring system, source code, tests, documentation, and development history.
Eye Spy is developed by SimeonOnSecurity and released under the Apache License 2.0 with SimeonOnSecurity attribution.
How Eye Spy Works
Eye Spy rotates through several wireless monitoring phases.
The normal scan cycle consists of approximately:
• 9 seconds of Bluetooth LE monitoring
• Approximately 3 seconds of Wi-Fi scanning
• 5 seconds of promiscuous Wi-Fi monitoring
• Repeat
The ESP32 shares radio resources between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, so Eye Spy schedules these detection engines rather than running every radio mode simultaneously.
This architecture lets a small ESP32 device monitor several categories of supported wireless technology.
Multiple Detection Methods
Eye Spy does not rely on one wireless identifier.
Depending on the detection category, the firmware evaluates supported:
• Bluetooth LE device names
• BLE service UUIDs
• BLE manufacturer data
• BLE advertisement payloads
• Wi-Fi BSSIDs
• Manufacturer OUIs
• Wi-Fi SSIDs
• 802.11 management frames
• OpenDroneID characteristics
• Persistent BLE-device behavior
• Signal strength
• Multiple independent indicators
The resulting events feed Eye Spy’s aggregate awareness score.
Simple CLEAR, CAUTION & ALERT Scoring
Eye Spy Mini presents the surrounding wireless environment through three primary status levels.
CLEAR | Score 0–2
A green status indicates no significant supported detections have accumulated.
CAUTION | Score 3–5
An amber status indicates one or more lower-confidence observations or a combination of supported indicators.
ALERT | Score 6+
A red status indicates the score has reached Eye Spy’s alert threshold through high-confidence or multiple accumulated detections.
Different signatures contribute different values based on their specificity.
The score decreases by one point every 60 seconds without new qualifying activity.
A 120-second re-score cooldown prevents the same detection type from repeatedly increasing the score without limit.
Built-In Color Display
Eye Spy Mini includes a compact 1.14-inch color TFT display.
The interface keeps the current Eye Spy score and awareness state visible without requiring a separate phone or computer.
The display presents information such as:
• Current Eye Spy score
• CLEAR, CAUTION, or ALERT state
• Current scanning phase
• Number of tracked devices
• Total events
• Most recent detection type
• Signal information
• Approximate range information when RSSI data is available
• Time since the last alert
The interface changes from green to amber to red as the aggregate Eye Spy score increases.
Bluetooth Tracker Awareness
Eye Spy includes supported Bluetooth LE detection logic for several personal-tracker technologies.
These include:
• Apple AirTag
• Samsung SmartTag
• Tile
Eye Spy also maintains a persistence tracker for unidentified BLE devices.
The firmware tracks up to 50 unknown BLE addresses simultaneously and looks for devices repeatedly observed over time.
This gives Eye Spy another awareness mechanism beyond known manufacturer and service signatures.
ALPR Awareness
Eye Spy includes supported detection logic for Flock Safety and other ALPR/LPR systems.
The firmware evaluates supported:
• Flock Safety OUI and MAC-prefix signatures
• Flock-related SSID patterns
• Flock-related BLE names
• Flock external-battery signatures
• ALPR/LPR manufacturer identifiers
• Motorola Solutions and Vigilant Solutions identifiers
• ALPR-related SSID patterns
ALPR awareness is one part of Eye Spy rather than its sole purpose.
Drone Remote ID Awareness
Eye Spy includes support for OpenDroneID detection through supported Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi broadcasts.
During promiscuous Wi-Fi monitoring, the firmware channel-hops across multiple 2.4 GHz channels while looking for supported Remote ID characteristics.
This adds drone awareness to the same pocket-sized device used for tracker, ALPR, camera, and body-camera awareness.
Body Camera & Smart Glasses Awareness
Eye Spy monitors supported Bluetooth LE characteristics associated with Axon equipment and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
These more specific signatures contribute higher values to the aggregate Eye Spy score.
Surveillance Camera Awareness
Eye Spy includes supported OUI and SSID signatures associated with numerous surveillance-camera platforms.
Supported manufacturer tables cover equipment from vendors such as:
• Hikvision
• Dahua
• Axis
• Ring
• Nest
• Arlo
• Wyze
• Reolink
• FLIR
• Amcrest
• Vivotek
• Hanwha
• Mobotix
• Ubiquiti UniFi
Broad camera manufacturer and SSID observations receive lower confidence values than more specific device signatures.
Persistent Device Awareness
Not every nearby device matches a known Eye Spy signature.
Eye Spy therefore includes a persistence tracker for unidentified Bluetooth LE devices.
An unknown BLE address observed repeatedly across an extended period contributes a lower-level awareness signal.
This feature is intended to highlight persistent nearby wireless devices without classifying every unidentified Bluetooth device as surveillance equipment.
Compact Surveillance Awareness
Eye Spy Mini measures approximately 48 × 24 × 8.4 mm and weighs approximately 17 grams.
Its small form factor works well for:
• Everyday carry
• Vehicle use
• Travel
• Field research
• Wireless security testing
• Privacy research
• ALPR research
• Tracker awareness
• Drone Remote ID awareness
• Cybersecurity education
• Security demonstrations
• Wireless experimentation
• Portable surveillance-awareness kits
An integrated 120mAh rechargeable battery supports portable use, while USB power supports longer vehicle or stationary operation.
Physical Controls
Eye Spy Mini uses its integrated physical buttons for direct interaction.
The primary controls provide:
A | RESET
Resets the current Eye Spy score.
B | SCAN
Restarts the current scan cycle.
This keeps basic operation local to the device.
Eye Spy vs. FlockYou
Eye Spy Mini and FlockYou Mini share similar compact hardware, but the firmware serves different purposes.
Our FlockYou product line is purpose-set for supported Flock Safety and ALPR awareness.
FlockYou concentrates its available radio time and detection logic on its narrower ALPR mission.
Eye Spy looks for a much broader collection of supported wireless signatures.
Choose FlockYou Mini For
• Dedicated Flock Safety awareness
• Supported ALPR/LPR awareness
• A purpose-set ALPR detector
• A narrower scanning workload focused on ALPR infrastructure
Choose Eye Spy Mini For
• Personal tracker awareness
• AirTag, SmartTag, and Tile awareness
• Body-camera awareness
• Drone Remote ID awareness
• Surveillance-camera awareness
• Smart-glasses awareness
• Persistent BLE-device awareness
• ALPR awareness alongside several other detection categories
Explore FlockYou ALPR Awareness Devices.
Why Eye Spy and FlockYou Stay Separate
The ESP32 has finite processing resources and shared Bluetooth/Wi-Fi radio time.
Eye Spy divides those resources among BLE scanning, Wi-Fi scanning, promiscuous monitoring, channel hopping, persistent-device tracking, signature matching, and scoring.
FlockYou concentrates on a narrower set of ALPR-related detection tasks.
This broader Eye Spy workload increases the risk of false negatives for any individual detection category compared with a purpose-set detector concentrating on a narrower task.
For example, a short transmission associated with a supported target might occur while Eye Spy is working through another radio phase.
This tradeoff is intentional.
Eye Spy prioritizes broad surveillance awareness.
FlockYou prioritizes dedicated supported ALPR awareness.
If Flock Safety and ALPR detection are your primary goals, choose a dedicated FlockYou device.
Local Processing
Eye Spy performs its detection and scoring locally.
It does not require:
• An Eye Spy cloud account
• An STS Collective cloud account
• A surveillance-provider account
• An ALPR infrastructure account
• A phone application
• A recurring subscription
Power on Eye Spy Mini and it begins monitoring supported nearby wireless activity.
Technical Specifications
Hardware Platform
M5StickC Plus SE
Processor
ESP32-PICO-D4 dual-core processor
Up to 240 MHz
Wireless
2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth LE
Display
1.14-inch color TFT LCD
135 × 240 native resolution
240 × 135 landscape Eye Spy interface
Battery
Integrated 120mAh rechargeable lithium battery
Alerts
On-screen visual status
Audible notifications
Controls
Integrated physical buttons
Dimensions
Approximately 48 × 24 × 8.4 mm
Weight
Approximately 17g
Detection Limitations
Eye Spy detects supported wireless characteristics rather than the physical presence of every surveillance or tracking device.
Detection depends on a target exposing a supported wireless signature while Eye Spy is monitoring the applicable radio mode or channel.
Equipment might go undetected when its relevant radio is disabled, its wireless behavior changes, its signal falls outside usable range, it operates on an unsupported frequency or protocol, or its transmission occurs outside the applicable Eye Spy scanning window.
Manufacturers also change hardware, firmware, identifiers, and wireless behavior over time.
A CLEAR state therefore represents the current Eye Spy score based on observed supported signals. It does not establish the absence of surveillance or tracking equipment.
Which Eye Spy Is Right for You?
Choose Eye Spy Mini if you want the smallest and most affordable Eye Spy model with an integrated screen.
Choose Eye Spy Display if you want a larger 2-inch screen, integrated 1W speaker, and additional physical controls.
Choose Eye Spy Display Pro if you want the higher-end touchscreen platform with a 500mAh battery, vibration hardware, 8MB PSRAM, additional sensors, and greater expansion capability.
All three run Eye Spy’s broad surveillance-awareness firmware while offering different hardware configurations.
Broad Surveillance Awareness at an Entry-Level Price
Eye Spy Mini provides the core Eye Spy experience in the smallest display-equipped configuration.
You get Bluetooth LE monitoring, Wi-Fi monitoring, tracker awareness, ALPR awareness, drone Remote ID awareness, surveillance-camera signatures, confidence-based scoring, a built-in color display, and transparent open-source firmware in a pocket-sized device.
No cloud account. No subscription. No required phone.
Eye Spy is developed by SimeonOnSecurity and offered preconfigured by STS Collective.