How Apple iOS 8 eases some privacy concerns
When Apple releases iOS 8 in the fall, corporate employees who use their iPhones and iPads for work will have better privacy protection when walking in places with Wi-Fi networks.
The next major version of Apple's mobile operating system will hide the device's unique identifier called a media access control (MAC) address, which is sometimes used to track people in retail stores and other locations.
A mobile device will constantly broadcast its MAC address to every hotspot it passes. Retailers will gather the data, so marketers can examine logs to gather useful information, such as identifying repeat shoppers or determining how much time people spend in a store. If a person actually connects to the Wi-Fi network, then it is possible to assign real names to the MAC address. Governments and criminals could do the same by setting up their own Wi-Fi hotspots.
