Bluetooth Dongles, are they safe?

Question

I have heard that its not safe to keep magnets or anything that produces static electricity near my computer.

So is it safe to plug in my Bluetooth dongle ?

Will it harm any of my computer components in any way?

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 04 '11 at 13:13

6

Since a bluetooth dongle does neither of those things (to any measurable degree), yes.

Also, does it not strike you as odd that a device designed to be plugged into a computer would be dangerous to plug into a computer ?

answered Mar 04 '11 at 13:13

Sirex

11,214

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 04 '11 at 13:13

The magnetic field generated by a Bluetooth dongle won't be strong enough to damage your computer. The device is designed to be plugged directly into your computer so will have been tested to make sure it's safe.

There are already quite powerful magnetic fields in and around your computer - the hard drives, speakers etc. but they are all short range.

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:16

The static electricity and magnets myths were debunked numerous times, even here on SuperUser.

To cut the long story short, you most likely are not going to be able to obtain access to powerful enough magnetic fields and static electricity sources to damage a modern computer.

Furthermore, all standard computer equipment used today needs to pass certain compatibility tests if it emits radio signals or can cause any type of interference.

Other have mentioned CE, but there are FCC certifications, various TÜV safety marks, UL safety mark and so on.

Do note that the fact that a product may have safety mark logos does not necessarily mean that it has passed certifications required by the safety mark. Some marks, such as CE, basically mean that manufacturer claims that product has passed safety mark requirements and leave the responsibility of actually testing the products to manufacturers and product safety organizations. Sometimes some manufacturers may design logos which are very similar to certain safety marks and apply them to their products as "decoration". Some manufacturers may go as far as falsifying safety marks.

Some other related questions can be found here, here or here.

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 04 '11 at 14:55

I quote from the CE approval specs:

A device has to:

Not create interference that will have a detrimental effect on other nearby equipment
Accept any interference generated by nearby equipment

So as long as the bluetooth radio and the computer are both CE approved there will be no problem.

Bluetooth Dongles, are they safe?

4 Answers4