What can be learned from a MAC address?

If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer’s registered identification number. It may also be known as an Ethernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address, adapter address, or physical address.

Can I find out what a device is by its MAC address?

MAC Lookup Tool provides you information about any MAC Address of a networking card installed into your computer or any other device. Enter any MAC Address or OUI to check its vendor or enter a vendor name to check its MAC Address ranges and details.

What can you do with someone elses MAC address?

Two main things:

• Impersonate another computer on a network, usually a WiFi one. This is commonly used to bypass MAC filtering, connect for free to paid hotspots, perform some WiFi cracking techniques, or perform various man in the middle techniques.
• Track a computer over time across different sessions and networks.

Should I keep my MAC address private?

Probably not. The MAC address is a unique 12 character string assigned by the manufacturer. Unless your device has been granted access to some secure network based solely on its MAC address… giving it out should not be a problem.

What is the purpose WIFI MAC address?

Wireless access points often use MAC addresses for access control. They only allow access for known devices (MAC address is unique and identifies devices) with the correct passphrase. DHCP servers use the MAC address to identify devices and give some devices fixed IP addresses.

What are the risks of sharing a MAC address?

In-brief: privacy researchers warn that the media access control (MAC) addresses that identify connected devices pose a serious privacy risk to individuals: allowing would-be attackers or businesses to collect a wealth of data about an individual’s movements, activities and preferences.