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Can confirm that this is indeed very creepy. I'm currently making a WiFi probe visualizer (for fun, with GPS, maps and stuff like this).

The amount of data you can gain from WiFi probes is extremely high.

I can imagine market researchers using this to measure phone brand usage in places, travel statistics (Airport WiFi), coffee shops.

Some phones (many) even add extended attributes that directly identify the phone model.

For example, take this guy (actual data from Postgres aggregation Query):

{bwin_ICE,"City Hotel","_Heathrow Wi-Fi",hhonors-public,HolidayInn_Guest,HotelCityNewFloor_1,HP_WL_01,Kramola456,Mani_Chrisi,"O2 Wifi",OEBBfree,OpenNet,"Sofia A irport Public","The Diner",WirelessViennaAirport,wonderland,NULL}

I know he was in London, at the Airport in Vienna, in a German Train, in Sofia, in a specific hotel.




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