[[!meta title="MAC address spoofing"]]

[[!toc]]

What is a MAC address?
======================

Every network interface — wired or Wi-Fi — has a [[!wikipedia MAC address]] which is
a serial number defined for each interface from factory by its vendor. MAC addresses
are used on the local network to identify the communications of each network
interface.

While your IP address identifies where you are on the Internet, your MAC address
identifies which device you are using on the local network. MAC addresses are
only useful on the local network and are not sent over the Internet.

Having such a unique identifier used on the local network can harm your privacy.
Here are two examples:

1. If you use your laptop to connect to several Wi-Fi networks, the
same MAC address of your Wi-Fi interface is used on all those local networks. Someone
observing those networks can recognize your MAC address and **track your
geographical location**.

2. As explained in our documentation on [[network
fingerprint|about/fingerprint]], someone observing the traffic coming out of
your computer on the local network can probably see that you are using Tails. In
that case, your MAC address can **identify you as a Tails user**.

What is MAC address spoofing?
=============================

Tails can temporarily change the MAC address of your network interfaces to random
values for the time of a working session. This is what we call "MAC address
spoofing". MAC address spoofing in Tails hides the serial number of your network interface,
and so to some extend, who you are, to the local network.

MAC address spoofing is enabled by default in Tails because it is usually
beneficial. But in some situations it might also lead to connectivity problems
or make your network activity look suspicious. This documentation explains
whether to use MAC spoofing or not, depending on your situation.

When to keep MAC address spoofing enabled
=========================================

**MAC address spoofing is enabled by default for all network interfaces.** This is
usually beneficial, even if you don't want to hide your geographical location.

Here are a few examples:

* **Using your own computer on an public network without registration**, for
  example a free Wi-Fi service in a restaurant where you don't need to register with your
  identity. In this case, MAC address spoofing hides the fact that your computer
  is connected to this network.

* **Using your own computer on a network that you use frequently**, for example
  at a friend's place, at work, at university, etc. You already have a strong
  relationship with this place but MAC address spoofing hides the fact that your
  computer is connected to this network *at a particular time*. It also hides
  the fact that *you* are running Tails on this network.

When to disable MAC address spoofing
====================================

In some situations MAC address spoofing is not useful but can instead be
problematic. In such cases, you might want to [[disable MAC address
spoofing|mac_spoofing#disable]].

Note that even if MAC spoofing is disabled, your anonymity on the Internet is
preserved:

  - An adversary on the local network can only see encrypted connections to the
    Tor network.
  - Your MAC address is not sent over the Internet to the websites that you are
    visiting.

However, disabling MAC address spoofing makes it possible again for the local
network to track your geographical location. If this is problematic, consider
using a different network device or moving to another network.

Here are a few examples:

- **Using a public computer**, for example in an Internet café or a library.
  This computer is regularly used on this local network, and its MAC address is
  not associated with your identity. In this case, MAC address spoofing can make
  it impossible to connect. It can even **look suspicious** to the network
  administrators to see an unknown MAC address being used on that network.

- On some network interfaces, **MAC address spoofing is impossible** due to
  limitations in the hardware or in Linux. Tails temporarily disables such
  network interfaces. You might disable MAC address spoofing to be able to use them.

- Some networks **only allow connections from a list of authorized MAC
  addresses**. In this case, MAC address spoofing makes it impossible to connect
  to such networks. If you were granted access to such network in the past, then
  MAC address spoofing might prevent you from connecting.

- **Using your own computer at home**. Your identity and the MAC address of your
  computer are already associated to this local network, so MAC address spoofing
  is probably useless. But if access to your local network is restricted based
  on MAC addresses it might be impossible to connect with a spoofed MAC address.

<a id="disable"></a>

Disable MAC address spoofing
============================

You can disable MAC address spoofing from [[<span class="application">Tails
Greeter</span>|startup_options#tails_greeter]]:

1. When <span class="application">Tails Greeter</span> appears, in the
   <span class="guilabel">Welcome to Tails</span> window, click on the
   <span class="button">Yes</span> button. Then click on the
   <span class="button">Forward</span> button.

2. In the <span class="guilabel">MAC address spoofing</span> section, deselect
   the <span class="guilabel">Spoof all MAC addresses</span> option.

Other considerations
====================

- Other means of surveillance can reveal your geographical location: video
  surveillance, mobile phone activity, credit card transactions, social
  interactions, etc.

- While using Wi-Fi, anybody within range of your Wi-Fi interface can
  see your MAC address, even without being connected to the same Wi-Fi
  access point.

- When using mobile phone connectivity, such as 3G or GSM, the identifier of
  your SIM card (IMSI) and the serial number of your phone (IMEI) are always
  revealed to the mobile phone operator.

- Some [[!wikipedia captive portals]] might send your MAC address over the
  Internet to their authentication servers. This should not affect your decision
  regarding MAC address spoofing. If you decide to disable MAC address spoofing
  your computer can already be identified by your ISP.
