Re: Apple changed their documentation at my request but it proves they don't care about privacy

On 2026-09-06, Carlos E.R. <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 2026-09-06 17:37, Jon Ribbens wrote:
>> 1. Apple are storing the location of "hidden" WiFi Access Points.
>>     (My opinion: low priority.)
>
> Only Apple?

I think that is what Maria is saying, and I have no information to the
contrary.

>> Allegedly: Apple are adhering to this exclusion, but are not also
>> excluding BSSIDs which are not broadcasting any SSID at all (i.e.
>> "hidden" networks). Other organisations (e.g. Google) do exclude such
>> "hidden" networks.
>
> And if it is hidden they would not see if the SSID ends in _nomap.
>
> But is there a consensus that hidden SSIDs should not be listed? In 
> writing? Maybe there is such a consensus now.

To me it's fairly intuitive that if someone has taken the unusual step
of explicitly marking their network as "hidden", then its location
should not be included in these databases - especially given the fact
that the "_nomap" SSID method doesn't work for "hidden" networks.

> Related: What did Arlen (aka Maria) achieve? That Apple agreed to
> remove all hidden and _nomap entries, or that they removed only his
> entry?

My impression is that as a result of Maria's communications with them,
Apple updated their documentation to note that "hidden" networks are
still listed in their database, and removed Maria's own BSSID(s) from
the database.