[honopu]

Did not know this. I figured all those wifi connections I get near stoplights were slurping up mac addresses to track people. I wonder if it generates a mac address every single time or just upon first interaction with a wifi network it doesn't know about?

[gervase]

Apparently the initial implementation (iOS 8) randomized it every time the screen sleeps or wakes. I wasn't able to find any recent documentation detailing the current behavior - probably similar?

[Operyl]

Beginning at the top of page 41: https://www.apple.com/business/site/docs/iOS_Security_Guide....

``` iOS uses a randomized Media Access Control (MAC) address when conducting Wi-Fi scans while it isn’t associated with a Wi-Fi network. These scans could be performed in order to find and connect a preferred Wi-Fi network or to assist Location Services for apps that use geofences, such as location-based reminders or fixing a location in Apple Maps. Note that Wi-Fi scans that happen while trying to connect to a preferred Wi-Fi network aren’t randomized.

.... [continues with all the cases] ```