Subject: Apple tracking of WLAN APs (was: Re: Apple changed their documentation at my request but it proves they don't care about privacy)

(Removing Python and Windows NT cross-posts, of the remaining groups I'm
only following comp.mobile.android.)

On 2026-09-03, Lawrence D?Oliveiro wrote:

On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 16:30:15 +0930, Maria Sophia wrote:

Those scripts proved I could collect a list of every single access
point in Apple's database, just as researchers Eric Rye and Dave
Levin did, using a simple perl script which proved the results of
their paper, and which went further to prove that my own
hidden-broadcast SSIDs were in that database.

I don?t understand what you?re complaining about, exactly. Your wi-fi
network broadcasts its existence to all and sundry, and yet you feel
upset when somebody collects that information and passes it on.

In the EU, I suppose the collection of this information by Apple
Computer, Inc. would be under the purview of the GDPR, Apple being a
corporate entity and all?

And hiding SSIDs is a complete waste of time, which gains you nothing
in security or privacy. Don?t do it.

--
Nuno Silva

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Apple tracking of WLAN APs (was: Re: Apple changed their documentation at my request but it proves they don't care about privacy)

Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> wrote:

(Removing Python and Windows NT cross-posts, of the remaining groups I'm
only following comp.mobile.android.)

On 2026-09-03, Lawrence D?Oliveiro wrote:

On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 16:30:15 +0930, Maria Sophia wrote:

Those scripts proved I could collect a list of every single access
point in Apple's database, just as researchers Eric Rye and Dave
Levin did, using a simple perl script which proved the results of
their paper, and which went further to prove that my own
hidden-broadcast SSIDs were in that database.

I don?t understand what you?re complaining about, exactly. Your wi-fi
network broadcasts its existence to all and sundry, and yet you feel
upset when somebody collects that information and passes it on.

In the EU, I suppose the collection of this information by Apple
Computer, Inc. would be under the purview of the GDPR, Apple being a corporate entity and all?

Nope. The SSID of a router is not personal information pertaining to a
living individual. Therefore GDPR doesn't apply.

It's like saying a car number plate falls under GDPR.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)