Apple iOS 8 - Problems In-Store for Location-Trackers?

Apple has hinted that its forthcoming iOS 8 operating system may make it impossible for analytics companies to track iPhone and iPad users in (real-world) retail stores.

In a privacy presentation at the recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple discussed the 12-digit 'media access control' (MAC) addresses which its devices transmit when WiFi or Bluetooth are turned on. According to a report on www.mediapost.com , the new o/s will feature WiFi scanning using 'random, locally administered MAC addresses' instead of the permanent MAC addresses currently used by shopper-tracking specialists.

The move - which coincides with Apple's roll-out of its own Bluetooth-based iBeacon technology, interacting with sensors in stores - has been greeted with cautious optimism by privacy groups, but is likely to cause headaches for companies with their own systems for tracking and targeting smartphone users.