Comment by walterbell

Comment by walterbell 10 months ago

2 replies

When WiFi is enabled, iPhones usually broadcast a list of previously connected SSIDs, which can be used in fingerprinting. Fortunately, shortcuts can disable (not just disconnect) WiFi.

> I wonder what telemetry tells them about this icon

Do workaround articles count as telemetry? https://allthings.how/how-to-get-wi-fi-cellular-and-bluetoot... & https://old.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1fidfm0/ios_18_psa_you...

aembleton 10 months ago

> iPhones usually broadcast a list of previously connected SSIDs

Why would they broadcast this? Wouldn't they just be listening for SSIDs?

  • walterbell 10 months ago

    Active probes are faster, https://www.wi-fi.org/knowledge-center/faq/what-are-passive-...

    > The reason for client scanning is to determine a suitable AP to which the client may need to roam now or in the future. A client can use two scanning methods: active and passive. During an active scan, the client radio transmits a probe request and listens for a probe response from an AP. With a passive scan, the client radio listens on each channel for beacons sent periodically by an AP. A passive scan generally takes more time, since the client must listen and wait for a beacon versus actively probing to find an AP. Another limitation with a passive scan is that if the client does not wait long enough on a channel, then the client may miss an AP beacon.