The alteration of a device’s Media Access Control (MAC) address on the Android operating system to a pseudo-random value, rather than the device’s factory-assigned address, is a privacy-enhancing feature. For example, instead of a network consistently identifying a device by its hardware-defined address, the device presents a different address each time it connects to a new Wi-Fi network, or at regular intervals. This hinders tracking across different networks.
This feature offers a notable improvement in user privacy by limiting the ability of network operators and other entities to track devices based on a persistent identifier. Historically, the hardware-defined MAC address has been used to profile user behavior, track location, and deliver targeted advertising. By adopting a randomized address, the link between a device and its network activity is weakened, reducing the potential for these types of tracking activities. The adoption of this technology also helps to defend against network attacks that rely on MAC address filtering or blacklisting.
