This feature was added to Android P for experimental purposes, whereas Android Q randomizes the MAC address by default, with per-network customization. The address is kept consistent per network (i.e., Service Set Identifier ), so the user doesn’t have to authenticate each time it connects to the same SSID. More recently, OSs have started to implement the use of MAC address randomization for device association to the network. IEEE 802.11 also stepped up to specify a similar feature in the IEEE 802.11aq Pre-Association Service Discovery amendment to the 802.11-2016 standard. This probe mode guarantees anonymity until the client gets associated with an AP. In response to these privacy vulnerabilities, most OSs-including Android, iOS, and Windows-began to implement their own variant of MAC address randomization while probing the Wi-Fi network. MAC Address Randomization Increases Device Anonymity … In addition, during the connection to the AP, customers were not notified upfront that their movements would be tracked, and historic location data could be used for marketing purposes or sold to third parties. Several companies were reportedly logging and tracking the addresses of nearby devices in unassociated states. The MAC address is a Layer 2 (L2) address used to identify the source (sender) and the destination (receiver) of frames by most 802 network technologies, including Ethernet, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.īack in 2013, the privacy implications of targeted probe requests started to become widely publicized. Unique MAC Addresses Enable User Privacy Infringement in Wireless NetworksĮvery Wi-Fi radio has a unique 48-bit identifier called a MAC address that is assigned by the manufacturer. As a countermeasure to this privacy threat, OS developers are anonymizing MAC addresses, thereby raising technical concerns among network operators.

Wi-Fi access points, however, can monitor device locations without user consent by means of MAC addresses. Although a growing number of applications make use of location data, operating systems (OSs) provide the ability to turn off location services provided by the GPS or cellular/Wi-Fi connectivity.

In the era of mobility, location tracking is a major privacy concern for portable device users.

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