How to Use a Private Wi-Fi Address on Apple Watch

Did you know that your Apple Watch can use a different MAC address with each Wi-Fi network to prevent network operators from tracking your activity across different Wi-Fi networks?

To communicate with a Wi-Fi network, a device has to identify itself to the network with a unique network address called a media access control (MAC) address.

If your Apple Watch always uses the same Wi-Fi MAC address across all networks, it means network providers and other network observers can more easily relate that address to the device’s network activity and location over time.

This allows a kind of user tracking or profiling, but you can prevent it from happening by getting your Apple Watch to use a different MAC address for each Wi-Fi network that it connects to. Here’s how.

1. Launch the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
2. Scroll down and select Wi-Fi from the menu.

3. Tap the network you joined (if you haven’t joined it yet, swipe right on it and tap the three dots).
4. Tap the switch next to Private Address to enable it. You’ll see the address you’re using displayed below the toggle.

Note that Apple will provide you with a warning when connecting to a Wi-Fi network that doesn’t use the Private Address feature.