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Security has go a top priority for mobile users, peculiarly for those who use their devices for business purposes. With each iteration of Android, security improves. Such is the example with Android 10 (previously known as Android Q). With this release, there's an interesting characteristic that might please a number of users (especially those serious almost the security of their mobile devices).

Said new characteristic is Randomized MAC addresses. What can a Randomized MAC accost do? To put it simply, MAC accost randomization tin forestall a listener from using a device'due south MAC address to build a history of activity. Past doing this, your device's security and privacy increases.

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But how do you randomize your MAC accost? Thanks to Android 10, it's actually quite uncomplicated. In fact, the feature should be set as the default option for all wireless connections. On the off-chance you want to ensure your Android x device is making utilize of randomized MAC addresses, permit me prove you how.

But first …

What is a MAC address?

For those that might not know, a MAC (Media Access Control) accost is a unique identifier, assigned to a device's network interface controller. This accost can be used to rail a device on Wi-Fi networks. If someone were to discover the MAC address associated with your mobile device, they could easily proceed tabs on you. Say, you motion around from wireless network to wireless network. Each time your MAC address is associated with a network, information technology could be tracked, thereby giving away your movement throughout a city. That is non just a privacy upshot, simply could lead to a security problem.

Wi-Fi settings

The randomized MAC address option is configured for each wireless connection, and so there is no way to configure this globally. Once you connect to a wireless network, hither's how to make sure the device is using a random MAC accost (instead of the device MAC address).

  1. Open up the Settings app.
  2. Tap Network & Internet.
  3. Tap Wi-Fi.
  4. Tap the gear icon associated with the wireless connexion to be configured.
  5. Tap Advanced.
  6. Tap Privacy.
  7. Tap Utilize Randomized MAC (Figure A).

The randomized MAC address assignment should be set as the default for all wireless connections. If this isn't the case, setting the option is simply a tap away.

A must-use

For anyone who is serious about mobile security, this characteristic is a must-use. Thankfully, the developers opted to brand the randomized MAC address feature the default for wireless connections. Brand sure your Android 10 device is using this feature for every wireless network y'all connect to, so yous can enjoy an added layer of security.