Path: ...!npeer.as286.net!npeer-ng0.as286.net!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: JAB Newsgroups: misc.news.internet.discuss Subject: _nomap Date: Thu, 23 May 2024 21:09:41 -0500 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 40 Message-ID: Reply-To: JAB MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Fri, 24 May 2024 04:09:45 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="00d53e36ee0d6466c0929639813919c3"; logging-data="2256397"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19uH4OFXnWsgKYGOLBpWkIV" User-Agent: ForteAgent/8.00.32.1272 Cancel-Lock: sha1:K+HVMkI13+D3/moPlseAQqcrfxo= Bytes: 2777 How Apple Wi-Fi Positioning System can be abused to track people around the globe SpaceX is smart on this, Cupertino and GL.iNet not so much In-depth Academics have suggested that Apple's Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) can be abused to create a global privacy nightmare. In a paper titled, "Surveilling the Masses with Wi-Fi-Based Positioning Systems," Erik Rye, a PhD student at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the US, and Dave Levin, associate professor at UMD, describe how the design of Apple's WPS facilitates mass surveillance, even of those not using Apple devices. "This work identifies the potential for harm to befall owners of Wi-Fi APs (access points), particularly those among vulnerable and sensitive populations, that can be tracked using WPSes," the authors explain in their paper [PDF]. https://www.cs.umd.edu/~dml/papers/wifi-surveillance-sp24.pdf "The threat applies even to users that do not own devices for which the WPSes are designed - individuals who own no Apple products, for instance, can have their AP in Apple's WPS merely by having Apple devices come within Wi-Fi transmission range." Apple is one of several companies, along with Google, Skyhook, and others, that operate a WPS. They offer client devices a way to determine their location that's more energy efficient than using the Global Positioning System (GPS). For mobile phones, WPS also has less of a power drain than GPS .... .... .... The researchers say that they reported their findings to Apple, Starlink, and GL.iNet, and note that one way to keep your BSSID out of WPS databases is to append the string _nomap to the AP's Wi-Fi network name, or SSID - the SSID is set by the user while the BSSID is a hardware identifier. https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/23/apple_wifi_positioning_system/?td=rt-3a