Many Wi-Fi networks have relied on the original permanence of device MAC addresses to facilitate access to or management of the network.
Without a new way to identify devices on Wi-Fi networks, the networks will cease to be as manageable and/or as functional as they were. This will have customer experience impacts as well as financial ones.
The introduction of per-SSID, daily, and per-session MAC randomization to Wi-Fi networks is designed to improve the privacy of the user. However, it can cause problems for the provision of services that need to uniquely identify the devices, or the users in those cases where the identity of the device is used as a proxy for the identity of the user.
The WBA has identified randomized MAC addresses as an impact on deployments of Wi-Fi networks and has been in contact with standards organizations to address the issues surrounding MAC randomization.
The paper details the requirements and the available solutions for many use cases including private home network access, public and enterprise network, hospitality & venue network access and Passpoint networks among others. It outlines recommendations for solutions across different verticals that a network operator may wish to adopt to overcome the issues introduced by MAC randomization. This paper also explores the need for identities and the legal necessity to consider privacy and consent when identifying people.
The “Wi- Fi Device Identification” whitepaper is brought to you by WBA’s Testing and Interoperability Work Group. Please contact us to find out more about WBA works and get involved.
