[xx_ns]

> A probe packet contains the MAC address as well as the list of all the past Wi-fi networks that your device has tried to join before, which can reveal a lot about you!

Generally, most modern devices send broadcast/wildcard probes precisely to avoid leaking the PNL. From what I know, directed probes are only sent for hidden APs.

[oofbey]

Correct. All major OSes stopped broadcasting the preferred SSID list by 2017, with Android and Linux being the last. Apple stopped in 2014. Windows by 2009.

[rafram]

And most modern devices randomize MAC addresses ("Wi-Fi addresses" in Apple-ese, for probably obvious reasons) between networks, and even between broadcasts/connections to the same network.

[gausswho]

I think this is only true for mobile devices? I'm curious how one would configure Linux to randomize MAC addresses by default.

[c22]

In Linux changing the MAC address can be done simply on the command line, so I'd probably just write this functionality into a bash script that I'd call before ifup.

[rafram]

macOS rotates MAC addresses between networks by default, and between connections to the same network unless it's password-protected. (It's under System Settings -> "Details..." or three-dot menu by a network -> "Private Wi-Fi address.")

Windows also randomizes by default as long as your network controller supports it.

It sounds like Linux requires some textual configuration that depends on your distro.

[warkdarrior]

https://fedoramagazine.org/randomize-mac-address-nm/