Should you use MAC addresses instead of UDIDs to identify the device?

#1

Post by jimbrock » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 10:58 PM UTC

Are we in a game of whack-a-mole with Apple?

Should you use MAC addresses instead of UDIDs to identify the device?
blog.privacychoice.org

Re: Should you use MAC addresses instead of UDIDs to identify the device?

#2

Post by jarin » Fri, Oct 28, 2011, 11:49 PM UTC

The MAC address is certainly easier to spoof, as you are only essentially dealing with 3 bytes of uniqueness (assuming iOS devices all have known manufacturer IDs). By comparison, the UDID is 20 bytes long.

Re: Should you use MAC addresses instead of UDIDs to identify the device?

#3

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 29, 2011, 1:02 AM UTC

jarin wrote: post #2

The MAC address is certainly easier to spoof, as you are only essentially dealing with 3 bytes of uniqueness (assuming iOS devices all have known manufacturer IDs). By comparison, the UDID is 20 bytes long.

[deleted]

Re: Should you use MAC addresses instead of UDIDs to identify the device?

#4

Post by cpeterso » Sat, Oct 29, 2011, 1:08 AM UTC

Here is a link to the original TechCrunch article:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/28/w3i-suggests-ios-developers...

Also, W3i is not recommending developers collect MAC addresses instead of UDIDs. W3i is recommending that developers collect users' MAC addresses and associated UDID. With two "primary" keys for each user, developers do not lose their old tracking data when Apple prevents apps from reading UDID.