Snippet: iOS 8 Improves Privacy When Scanning for WiFi Networks ☇

Frederic Jacobs noted it, but Russell Brandom of The Verge expands upon it:

…the changes have to do with the MAC address used to identify devices within networks. When iOS 8 devices look for a connection, they randomize that address, effectively disguising any trace of the real device.

Why are iPhones checking out Wi-Fi networks in disguise? Because there’s an entire industry devoted to tracking customers through that signal. As The New York Times reported last summer, shops from Nordstrom’s to JC Penney have tried out the system. (London even tried out a system using public trash cans.) The system automatically logs any phone within Wi-Fi range, giving stores a complete record of who walked into the shop and when. But any phone using iOS 8 will be invisible to the process, potentially calling the whole system into question.

Great move for offer a bit more privacy for iOS users.