Control access point inclusion in Google's Location services - Google Maps Help
support.google.com
external-link
To improve Location services and estimate the location of a device, Google uses publicly broadcast Wi-Fi information from wireless access points and GPS, cell tower, and sensor data. This data is limi
@beansniffer@lemmy.ml
link
fedilink
1
edit-2
3Y

Sure thing, here you go: https://superuser.com/questions/1005235/wi-fi-opt-out-microsoft-google

EDIT: So looked around some more and everyone points to that link as the main source for this information. That link lists a page on microsoft.com that no longer works. The internet archive has a snapshot from 2017 which states the following:

How we help keep your data safe

Protecting your home or business network

If you manage an open Wi-Fi network at home or at a small business but don’t want Windows to automatically connect people to it, you can opt your network out by including _optout somewhere in the Wi-Fi network name (also called the SSID). For example, “mynetwork_optout” or “my_optout_network”. When you do this, Windows won’t automatically connect people to your open network. For more detailed info, see the section To prevent other Windows 10 customers from automatically connecting to an open Wi-Fi network you manage.

So it sounds like that only applies to open wifi access points and Windows machines automatically connecting to them. Perhaps _optout doesn’t actually matter if you’re using wifi encryption (which you should be). Interesting… I’d like to know where I got the idea that it included bing maps cars…

Thanks for bringing to my attention that I might have accidentally spread misinformation.

Create a post

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

  • Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn’t great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
  • Don’t promote proprietary software
  • Try to keep things on topic
  • If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
  • Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
  • Be nice :)

Related communities

Chat rooms

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

  • 0 users online
  • 14 users / day
  • 18 users / week
  • 24 users / month
  • 15 users / 6 months
  • 20 subscribers
  • 619 Posts
  • 1.56K Comments
  • Modlog