{"id":227476,"date":"2023-05-04T04:18:02","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T08:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/es\/?p=287111"},"modified":"2025-07-01T19:19:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T02:19:35","slug":"wi-fi-private-iphone-tracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wi-fi-private-iphone-tracking\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay hidden: iPhone 14&#8217;s private Wi-Fi setting thwarts online tracking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Privacy is an essential pillar of Apple devices and an aspect that is often overlooked when connecting to a specific Wi-Fi network. When we connect to a network, such as our brand new iPhone 14, <strong>we share the MAC address of our network card with that network<\/strong>. This address is unique and immutable, which can allow us to be tracked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"iOS 16\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-icon-m\/p\/136f0b86-36a2-484c-98df-49fc90b365b6\/2187633187\/ios-16-iOS%2016-icon.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">iOS 16<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/ios-16.en.softonic.com\/iphone\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/ios-16.en.softonic.com\/iphone\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is enough that this address is checked in all our connections, both within the network and in other networks with which data is shared to locate us. Fortunately, <strong>this can be easily avoided with a simple setting<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Our MAC address uniquely identifies us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just as we need an IP address when connecting to a network so that the data packets we send and receive reach their destination. <strong>Something similar happens at the local network level with the MAC address<\/strong> of our network card, even with the network we create with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/share-internet-iphone?ex=DINS-635.1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iPhone Internet Sharing<\/a>. The router or access point to which we connect needs to know this address in order to send data packets to us and not to other machines that are also present on the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MAC (Media Access Control) address <strong>has been built into the network card since its manufacture and never changes<\/strong>. This has its advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantages are that it can be used for tracing. In the case of a large network, for example, the network operator can know from where we access between several access points and therefore know our movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How and why to randomise your Wi-Fi MAC address<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Avoiding being tracked by our MAC address is as simple as activating the necessary function on our devices. By doing so, <strong>the system will change the address on a regular basis<\/strong>, preventing us from being tracked by an identifier that is now constantly changing. To activate this setting, simply follow these steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>We connect normally to a Wi-Fi network.<\/li><li>Open the <em>Settings<\/em> app on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch.<\/li><li>Go to <em>Wi-Fi<\/em>.<\/li><li>Tap the network you are connected to.<\/li><li>Turn on <em>Private Wi-Fi Address<\/em>.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From now on, every time we connect to the network on which we have activated this function, a random address will be used, which will change regularly. This will prevent tracking in the long term. A detail that, like <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/protect-photos-password-iphone\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">password-protecting photos on the iPhone<\/a>, is important to bear in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"iOS 16\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-icon-m\/p\/136f0b86-36a2-484c-98df-49fc90b365b6\/2187633187\/ios-16-iOS%2016-icon.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">iOS 16<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/ios-16.en.softonic.com\/iphone\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/ios-16.en.softonic.com\/iphone\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Some of the links added in the article are part of affiliate campaigns and may represent benefits for Softonic.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Privacy is an essential pillar in Apple devices and an aspect that is often overlooked when we connect to a specific Wi-Fi network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9262,"featured_media":227479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[1405,4166,1960],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-227476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-iphone","tag-pricacidad","tag-wi-fi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227476"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320577,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227476\/revisions\/320577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227476"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=227476"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=227476"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=227476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}