ARTICLE 19 was invited to contribute to Wireless Broadband Alliance discussions on recent developments in the The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard with respect to geolocational privacy for non-associated devices. The Liaison Statement concerns the obfuscation of a device identifier, a MAC address, which is currently broadcasted in cleartext by devices capable of connecting to a wireless local area network.
Key points include:
- the sustainability of MAC addresses as identifiers,
- the suitability of geolocationally tracking individuals or compiling
- statistics on other aspects of their behaviour, and the freedom of
- individuals to choose for themselves how their content access is managed.