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

R.Wieser wrote:
>> I don't remember whether you addressed this ... how does someone
>> who hasn't visited your address (i.e they already know where you live) 
>> discover what the BSSID of your router is?
> 
> What you mention there has been explained to him in the thread here
> 
> [Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID]
> <[email protected]>

First, let's address Andy's point because Andy didn't read the paper, 
so Andy thinks it's about individuals, and not about the masses.
 *Surveilling the Masses with Wi-Fi-Based Positioning Systems*
 <https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.14975>

Let's simply apply Flock license-plate readers to that paper by 
way of an analogy, but we have to modify the protections, which, 
let's be clear, is the entire point of that paper. 
 A. Flock has protection
 B. Google has protection
 C. Apple has no protection

With that in mind, let's answer Andy's question using a Flock database.

Does a FLOCK camera need to know who the driver of the vehicle is?
Yes? or No?

What matters is the vehicle is in that spot, at that time, right?
Worse, what matters is ANYONE in the world can run the python script.
So anyone in the world knows all vehicle's locations at that time, right?

Oh, it gets worse.
Not only do they know all vehicle's location, but they get the nearest 400 vehicles every time they query just one vehicle. Google doesn't do that.

Only Apple does that.
But wait, it gets worse.

I wrote the Python code that gets the farthest away BSSID, and then gets the next 400 nearest vehicles. And the next. And the next, And the next.

Just like the researchers said, I could collect the location of every
single vehicle in the world, which is why it's *mass* surveillance.
 *Surveilling the Masses with Wi-Fi-Based Positioning Systems*
 <https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.14975>

Andy... it's not "individual" surveillance in that title.
It's "mass" surveillance. 

Big difference.
Now back to Rudy's offer of providing the message ID.

1. https://olduse.net/
2. https://article.olduse.net
3. Drat. 
   Message-ID: <[email protected]>
   NOT FOUND

Let's try https://usenetarchives.com/
Drat. Failed.

Let's try https://www.ardent-tool.com/other/Links.html
https://csiph.com/search
Bingo!

https://csiph.com/group/alt.comp.os.windows-10/a/10h1qmr%242alo%[email protected]
All my tutorials use freeware so that EVERYONE can use them, but I
wrote this tutorial before I found out about this Apple WPS query:
 <https://wavedigger.networksurvey.app/?tab=bssid>

Hence, this tutorial is only useful if you want to control the query
of Apple's highly insecure WPS database, which has no privacy controls.

For example, you can query thousands of BSSID's in a single command.
I'm not promoting that action, but I'm making the point it can be done.

See also:
 From: Marian <[email protected]>
 Newsgroups: alt.comp.os.windows-10,comp.mobile.android,misc.phone.mobile.iphone,alt.internet.wireless
 Subject: How to test if your access point BSSID is in the highly insecure Apple WPS database
 Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2025 05:08:08 -0700
 Message-ID: <[email protected]>

Tutorial: *Query the Apple database for your access point BSSID*
 <https://github.com/darkosancanin/apple_bssid_locator>

0. Download & install 7zip if you don't already have it on Windows.
   <https://www.7-zip.org/>

1. Download & install Python 3.14.1 on Windows & create site-packages
   <https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/>
   <https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.14.1/python-3.14.1-amd64.exe>
   Name: python-3.14.1-amd64.exe
   Size: 29883656 bytes (28 MiB)
   SHA256: 74E1516408744190FCC12307C150DE30902898444F77F85F4C2AC18F36788A80
   I installed into C:\app\os\python\python.exe
   REM Create site-packages if missing
   mkdir C:\app\os\python\Lib\site-packages

2. Download the requests package & copy into your Python environment
   <https://pypi.org/project/requests/#files>
   <https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/r/requests/requests-2.32.5.tar.gz>
    Name: requests-2.32.5.tar.gz
   Size: 134517 bytes (131 KiB)
   SHA256: DBBA0BAC56E100853DB0EA71B82B4DFD5FE2BF6D3754A8893C3AF500CEC7D7CF
   When 7-Zip asks Would you like to replace the existing file
   @PaxHeader, Press A (Always) to overwrite all such header files.

   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x requests-2.32.5.tar.gz
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x requests-2.32.5.tar
   xcopy /E /I requests-2.32.5\src\requests C:\app\os\python\Lib\site-packages\requests

3. Do the same for urllib3 -> handles HTTP connections
   <https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/u/urllib3/urllib3-2.5.0.tar.gz>
   Name: urllib3-2.5.0.tar.gz
   Size: 393185 bytes (383 KiB)
   SHA256: 3FC47733C7E419D4BC3F6B3DC2B4F890BB743906A30D56BA4A5BFA4BBFF92760
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x urllib3-2.5.0.tar.gz
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x urllib3-2.5.0.tar
   xcopy /E /I urllib3-2.5.0\src\urllib3 C:\app\os\python\Lib\site-packages\urllib3

4. Do the same for certifi -> provides SSL certificates
   <https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/c/certifi/certifi-2025.11.12.tar.gz>
   Name: certifi-2025.11.12.tar.gz
   Size: 160538 bytes (156 KiB)
   SHA256: D8AB5478F2ECD78AF242878415AFFCE761CA6BC54A22A27E026D7C25357C3316
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x certifi-2025.11.12.tar.gz
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x certifi-2025.11.12.tar
   xcopy /E /I certifi-2025.11.12\certifi C:\app\os\python\Lib\site-packages\certifi

5. Do the same for idna -> supports international domain names
   <https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/i/idna/idna-3.11.tar.gz
>
   Name: idna-3.11.tar.gz
   Size: 194582 bytes (190 KiB)
   SHA256: 795DAFCC9C04ED0C1FB032C2AA73654D8E8C5023A7DF64A53F39190ADA629902
   xcopy /E /I idna-3.11\idna C:\app\os\python\Lib\site-packages\idna
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x idna-3.11.tar.gz
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x idna-3.11.tar
   xcopy /E /I idna-3.11\idna C:\app\os\python\Lib\site-packages\idna

6. Do the same for charset'normalizer -> handles text encoding
   <https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/c/charset-normalizer/charset_normalizer-3.4.4.tar.gz>
   Name: charset_normalizer-3.4.4.tar.gz
   Size: 129418 bytes (126 KiB)
   SHA256: 94537985111C35F28720E43603B8E7B43A6ECFB2CE1D3058BBE955B73404E21A
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x charset_normalizer-3.4.4.tar.gz
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x charset_normalizer-3.4.4.tar
   xcopy /E /I charset_normalizer-3.4.4\src\charset_normalizer C:\app\os\python\Lib\site-packages\charset_normalizer

7. Test for the expected outcome of "2.32.5"
   C:\app\os\python\python.exe -c "import requests; print(requests.__version__)"

8. Now we have to add the protobuf 5.29.4 archive
   https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/p/protobuf/protobuf-5.29.4.tar.gz
   Name: protobuf-5.29.4.tar.gz
   Size: 424902 bytes (414 KiB)
   SHA256: 4F1DFCD7997B31EF8F53EC82781FF434A28BF71D9102DDDE14D076ADCFC78C99
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x protobuf-5.29.4.tar.gz
   C:\app\archiver\7zip\7z.exe x protobuf-5.29.4.tar
   xcopy /E /I protobuf-5.29.4\google C:\app\os\python\Lib\site-packages\google

   Note that protobuf has a version compatibility rule which only
   shows up once you actually try to load a generated .proto file.
   When you run the apple_bssid_locator.py, it will complain if the
   version of protoc you installed is different than what had been 
   used to generate AppleWLoc_pb2.py.

9. Test for expected outcome of "5.29.4"
   C:\app\os\python\python.exe -c "from google import protobuf; print(protobuf.__version__)"

10. Download & extract the Apple_bssid_locator project
   <https://github.com/darkosancanin/apple_bssid_locator/archive/refs/heads/master.zip>
   Name: apple_bssid_locator-master.zip
   Size: 509563 bytes (497 KiB)
   SHA256: 59A89D3AF89E70012493668BD71DD640C8EF39F15A88955E25B7AE242FCFC7BF
   I extracted to C:\tmp\apple_bssid_locator-master\apple_bssid_locator.py

11. Obtain your own BSSID of your hidden SSID access point
    <http://192.168.0.1/start.htm>
    AA:BB:CC:11:22:33

    Or scan your local network for BSSIDs:
    netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid
   
12. Run the script
   cd C:\tmp\apple_bssid_locator-master
   C:\app\os\python\python.exe apple_bssid_locator.py AA:BB:CC:11:22:33

   If the BSSID is in the Apple database, you'll get something like this:
   {
     "bssid": "AA:BB:CC:11:22:33",
     "latitude": 40.12345678,
     "longitude": -120.12345678
     "ssid": null
   }

   Convert that to a location using the Google Maps URI:
   <https://maps.google.com/?q=40.12345678,-120.12345678

   If the BSSID is NOT in the Apple database, you'll get this:
   C:\app\os\python\python.exe apple_bssid_locator.py AA:BB:CC:11:22:33
   Searching for location of bssid: AA:BB:CC:11:22:33
   The bssid was not found.

See also:
 <https://github.com/acheong08/apple-corelocation-experiments>
-- 
 <https://www.cs.umd.edu/~dml/papers/wifi-surveillance-sp24.pdf>
   "In this work, we show that Apples WPS implementation 
    can easily be abused to create a serious privacy threat 
    on a global scale."

 <https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.14975>
   "In this work, we show that Apple's flawed WPS can too easily be abused"

 <https://www.govinfosecurity.com/surveillance-risk-apples-wifi-based-positioning-system-a-25330>
  "The attack risk stems from Apple's WiFi-based Positioning System, or WPS"

 <https://securityboulevard.com/2024/05/apple-wi-fi-location-privacy-richixbw/>
  "An unrestricted Apple API endpoint allows for easy tracking."

 <https://cybernews.com/privacy/apple-beams-wifi-location-data-privacy-risk/>
  "Anyone can exploit Apple's flawed WiFi-based positioning system (WPS)*

 <https://www.macworld.com/article/2343297/apple-wi-fi-network-wps-vulnerability-location-services-leak.html>
  "Researchers have discovered a crucial vulnerability 
   in the way only Apple's location services work"

 <https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/23/apple_wifi_positioning_system/>
   "The threat applies even to users that do not own devices 
    for which the WPSes are designed - individuals who own no Apple 
    products, for instance, can have their AP in Apple's WPS merely 
    by having Apple devices come within Wi-Fi transmission range."

 <https://9to5mac.com/2024/05/24/apple-location-services-vulnerability/>
   "There is one crucial difference between the way in which
    Apple and Google devices carry out this task
    and that's exactly where the privacy issue arises."
   "We need to understand Apple devices figure out locations differently"

 <https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/apple-may-have-turned-wi-fi-routers-into-a-privacy-threat-239637a>
   "Researchers from the University of Maryland have uncovered a
    significant privacy vulnerability in Apple's Wi-Fi-based 
    Positioning System (WPS). This vulnerability enables attackers
    to track devices globally by exploiting the way Apple's WPS 
    operates, raising serious privacy concerns."

 <https://cyberinsider.com/apples-wi-fi-based-positioning-system-is-a-privacy-nightmare/>
    *Apple's Wi-Fi-Based Positioning System is a Privacy Nightmare*
    "Researchers from the University of Maryland have uncovered a 
     significant privacy vulnerability in Apple's Wi-Fi-based Positioning 
     System (WPS). This vulnerability enables attackers to track devices 
     globally by exploiting the way Apple's WPS operates, raising 
     serious privacy concerns."
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Thread
Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-06 10:55 -0700
  Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Mario Tomasella <[email protected]> - 2025-12-06 20:08 +0000
    Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-06 14:00 -0700
      Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-07 01:45 -0700
        Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-08 20:47 -0700
          Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-14 02:05 -0700
            Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-14 02:52 -0700
              Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-15 05:21 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-15 12:48 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-17 02:34 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-17 02:52 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-17 03:29 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-18 14:29 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Winston <[email protected]> - 2025-12-18 16:43 -0500
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Paul <[email protected]> - 2025-12-19 00:01 -0500
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-21 17:55 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Jeff Liebermann <[email protected]> - 2025-12-21 20:25 -0800
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-21 21:49 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Chris <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 15:08 +0000
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 09:30 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 10:39 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Paul <[email protected]> - 2025-12-19 04:06 -0500
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 10:20 -0700
  Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Andy Burns <[email protected]> - 2025-12-19 10:14 +0000
    Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-19 12:01 +0100
      Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-21 21:32 -0700
        Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 09:12 +0100
          Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 10:52 -0700
            Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 19:34 +0100
              Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-24 11:00 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-24 21:38 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-26 19:23 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-27 19:27 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-27 19:44 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-28 10:11 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-28 10:41 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-28 22:10 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-28 17:12 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-28 17:24 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-28 17:24 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Hank Rogers <[email protected]> - 2025-12-28 19:03 -0600
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 08:09 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 01:16 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 11:32 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 04:14 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 13:43 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-30 12:07 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 07:32 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 01:23 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 11:46 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 04:26 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 14:11 +0100
    Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-21 20:35 -0700
      Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Andy Burns <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 06:28 +0000
        Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 10:44 -0700
      Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Andy Burns <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 06:41 +0000
        Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Chris <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 09:27 +0000
          Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 10:48 -0700
            Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Andy Burns <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 18:00 +0000
              Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Char Jackson <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 15:42 -0600
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Hank Rogers <[email protected]> - 2025-12-22 19:40 -0600
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Chris <[email protected]> - 2025-12-23 10:00 +0000
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Char Jackson <[email protected]> - 2025-12-24 00:43 -0600
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-24 06:38 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID WolfFan <[email protected]> - 2026-01-01 15:34 -0500
              Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-29 01:31 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Andy Burns <[email protected]> - 2025-12-30 17:11 +0000
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-31 12:47 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-30 22:24 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Char Jackson <[email protected]> - 2025-12-30 17:18 -0600
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-31 08:03 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-31 00:51 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Char Jackson <[email protected]> - 2025-12-31 20:24 -0600
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-31 20:30 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2026-01-01 07:57 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Maria Sophia <[email protected]> - 2026-01-01 18:37 -0500
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2026-01-01 08:21 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2025-12-31 08:17 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-31 00:57 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Marian <[email protected]> - 2025-12-31 01:17 -0700
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Jeff Liebermann <[email protected]> - 2026-01-01 11:07 -0800
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2026-01-01 21:05 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2026-01-01 21:12 +0100
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID Jeff Liebermann <[email protected]> - 2026-01-01 14:09 -0800
                Re: Tutorial: Query the Apple database with Python for your access point BSSID "R.Wieser" <[email protected]> - 2026-01-02 09:13 +0100