XPost: comp.mobile.android, alt.internet.wireless   
   From: catwheezel@operamail.com   
      
   On 2016-01-29, Andy Burns  wrote:   
   > Dave Higton wrote:   
   >   
   >> I'm not sure what exctly you want to know.   
   >   
   > If everyone around me has a cellphone that tells Google what my ssid   
   > is, and if they then "see" that ssid when I try to connect at a   
   > hotspot, they instantly know exactly who I am simply by putting two   
   > and two together.   
   >   
   > That doesn't bother you?   
      
   When you connect to a hotspot, your device only has to identify itself;   
   it passes on no information at all about any other WiFi access points it   
   may have encountered or accessed in the past.   
      
   However when searching for something to connect with, your mobile phone   
   (like any other WiFi device) will send out signals asking for access   
   points it has previously connected with to respond; this is so that   
   automatic connection can be established whenever you are within range of   
   a known access point - but it also means that anyone listening in to the   
   background WiFi traffic can get a list of [all?] the access points your   
   device has accessed in the past, which does to some extent identify   
   'you'.  Which is why it's a good idea to switch off your device's WiFi   
   unless you're actually using it (that and extending battery life).   
      
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