Let’s say, I sit down in a mall, open my laptop and connect to a secured mobile hotspot. Then I do it again next week after a reboot. What information would a nearby shop or a passive malicious hacker be able to find about my device? Does my device send out identifying information before joining, like a MAC address? Is this persistent, or randomized?

I intentionally haven’t specified a distro, so if something only applies to some network managers, give some details.

Bonus points: what about Android phones?

  • ms.lane@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    And track you, Cisco has had the ability to track MAC addresses over their APs on a map for 2 decades now.

    Also track you over multiple networks- most only care about the SSID- so if you’ve ever connected to “eduroam” you can be tracked across multiple campuses.

    • hard_zero1@discuss.tchncs.de
      2·
      2 days ago

      Specifically for eduroam, I assume you can be tracked anyways, since you have to authenticate with your personal credentials, right?