Have a Wi-Fi-Enabled Phone? Stores Are Tracking You

jfruh writes "Call it Google Analytics for physical storefronts: if you've got a phone with wi-fi, stores can detect your MAC address and track your comings and goings, determining which aisles you go to and whether you're a repeat customer. The creator of one of the most popular tracking software packages says that the addresses are hashed and not personally identifiable, but it might make you think twice about leaving your phone on when you head to the mall."

Comments

Change your MAC address

[Anonymous Coward]

Change your MAC address to a pseudo-random one every time you go out of your main home or work environment. It's possible on android and iOS devices.

I Smell a DOS prank

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Presumably they are looking for the initial broadcast packet that starts the handshake to establish a wifi connection with a base station. Seems like you could mess with these guys if your phone had an app to dynamically change the MAC address on every handshake, you could also speed up the rate of such handshake initiations. Wander the aisles for a half hour and the store's now got a million bogus entries in their tracking database.

Re:Why does this matter?

[calzones]

The trouble starts when all mac address's activity gets logged into big data and stays there.
Then later on, your mac address gets cross-referenced with your real name and phone number and personally identifying data some day (because, for example, you may frequent Starbucks or locations that feature free wifi).

Suddenly, without anyone really trying, your every movement throughout the day just became trackable and they know how to reach you.