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Comment by Sidnicious | Hacker News Reader

Side question: the last time I watched broadcasts coming out of my unassociated iPhone, it was specifically asking for certain SSIDs. The set seemed somewhat random (I've joined all of them, but not recently), and I don't think any of them had ever been hidden networks.

Are these broadcasts viable for tracking (it seems like they would be)? Is there anything I can do as a user to mitigate the effects (other than turning off WiFi)?

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>Side question: the last time I watched broadcasts coming out of my unassociated iPhone, it was specifically asking for certain SSIDs. The set seemed somewhat random (I've joined all of them, but not recently), and I don't think any of them had ever been hidden networks.

IOS, like the linux's NetworkManager (and probably whatever android, didn't check), just assume that the AP could be hidden and try to connect to it anyway. Those people, that did something as stupid as that(for "user convenience"), later implemented MAC randomization in their network managers. Windows has a checkbox for hidden networks.

>Are these broadcasts viable for tracking (it seems like they would be)? Is there anything I can do as a user to mitigate the effects (other than turning off WiFi)?

Yes. No. MAC address randomization helps somewhat, as per glancing at pdf.

All in all just fire up airodump-ng and see for yourself.

Delete APs when you're done using them if they're not ones you'll regularly access. This is especially important for open, unencrypted WiFi since a malicious AP could claim to be that ID.

The only way to prevent this behavior entirely is to shut off WiFi.

iOS doesn't have UI to delete networks unless they're currently in range (except a big "Reset Network Settings" button). The only workaround I know of is to sync your networks with iCloud Keychain and use a computer to delete them.

https://digi.ninja/jasager/

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