And if you make your device forget the network, it will also forget the private address it used with that network, unless it has been less than 2 weeks since the last time it was made to forget that network. Starting with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8, if your device hasn’t joined the network in 6 weeks, it uses a different private address the next time it connects to that network.If you erase all content and settings or reset network settings on the device, your device uses a different private address the next time it connects to that network.In some cases, your device will change its private Wi-Fi address: Under the Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection section, look for the Physical. This unique MAC address is your device's private Wi-Fi address, which it uses for that network only. Note: Your computer may contain a wireless network card as well as a wired network card, or contain multiple network cards. In the Command Prompt window, type ipconfig /all and press Enter.

Starting with iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7, your device improves privacy by using a different MAC address for each Wi-Fi network. This allows a kind of user tracking or profiling, and it applies to all devices on all Wi-Fi networks.

If the device always uses the same Wi-Fi MAC address across all networks, network operators and other network observers can more easily relate that address to the device's network activity and location over time. To communicate with a Wi-Fi network, a device must identify itself to the network using a unique network address called a Media Access Control (MAC) address.

Wireless network mac address