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I wasn't responding to you, but what other way would you choose to opt out? SSID is one of the few things you can adjust on almost any access point. Hotspots a

I wasn't responding to you, but what other way would you choose to opt out? SSID is one of the few things you can adjust on almost any access point. Hotspots are relevant because they are often personal and they follow you around, so if they didn't randomize their hardware address, then anyone could track your movements.

jeromegv 5y ago
This is Google's problem to figure out (how we should opt-out, or if it should be a opt-in service), the fact that you are putting the responsibility on the user is crazy in itself. We are talking of a billion dollar company tracking the location of your own router against your will and without permission.
- betterunix2 5y ago
  Well, my laptop is currently monitoring the wifi frames my neighbors' devices are transmitting, and I never asked their permission. Their devices are doing the same to mine and they never asked my permission. Your phone is monitoring all wifi frames being transmitted around you, regardless of what network those other wifi stations are connected to. That is part of the wifi standard -- stations try to avoid interfering with each other, and necessissarily monitor each other's transmission without anyone asking for any permission. Do you want to live in a world where wifi requires permission? Trying tracking down all the people in your area who are using wifi -- I have literally hundreds of wifi stations around me, operated by dozens of different people, and I have no idea who they are or how to contact them. The next time you turn on your laptop, before connecting to a wifi network (by which point you have already recorded transmissions from other wifi networks in the area), try making sure you have everyone's permission -- after all, you would not want to benefit (by being able to use wifi and not having to carry an ethernet cable around) from your device monitoring another person's network if they did not say it was OK! Most wifi is operated in the unlicensed band, which is meant to be permissionless. That makes it convenient and suitable for consumer applications, and it also means that you have NO right to complain that Google and Microsoft dared to record your wifi beacons without asking your permission.
- mortehu 5y ago
  Why are you singling out Google, though? Mozilla uses the same opt out mechanism, as do the various open databases such as OpenWLANMap. If you are worried about this, do you realize Google Photos also stores the location of photos of objects, and owners of those objects cannot opt out of this "tracking"?

jeromegv 5y ago

This is Google's problem to figure out (how we should opt-out, or if it should be a opt-in service), the fact that you are putting the responsibility on the user is crazy in itself. We are talking of a billion dollar company tracking the location of your own router against your will and without permission.

betterunix2 5y ago
Well, my laptop is currently monitoring the wifi frames my neighbors' devices are transmitting, and I never asked their permission. Their devices are doing the same to mine and they never asked my permission. Your phone is monitoring all wifi frames being transmitted around you, regardless of what network those other wifi stations are connected to. That is part of the wifi standard -- stations try to avoid interfering with each other, and necessissarily monitor each other's transmission without anyone asking for any permission. Do you want to live in a world where wifi requires permission? Trying tracking down all the people in your area who are using wifi -- I have literally hundreds of wifi stations around me, operated by dozens of different people, and I have no idea who they are or how to contact them. The next time you turn on your laptop, before connecting to a wifi network (by which point you have already recorded transmissions from other wifi networks in the area), try making sure you have everyone's permission -- after all, you would not want to benefit (by being able to use wifi and not having to carry an ethernet cable around) from your device monitoring another person's network if they did not say it was OK! Most wifi is operated in the unlicensed band, which is meant to be permissionless. That makes it convenient and suitable for consumer applications, and it also means that you have NO right to complain that Google and Microsoft dared to record your wifi beacons without asking your permission.
mortehu 5y ago
Why are you singling out Google, though? Mozilla uses the same opt out mechanism, as do the various open databases such as OpenWLANMap. If you are worried about this, do you realize Google Photos also stores the location of photos of objects, and owners of those objects cannot opt out of this "tracking"?