Russian surveillance watchdog proposes new method for identifying Wi-Fi users
Russia’s federal surveillance watchdog Roskomnadzor proposes introducing a special software will facilitate the identification of public Wi-Fi network users, reported newspaper Kommersant on Thursday, citing a presentation lead by Denis Paltsin, head of the communications control and supervision department.
Currently, said Paltsin, users can be identified on by the MAC address (media access control address) of their WiFi-router, which is not linked a particular subscriber.
Roskomnadzor spokesman suggests using special software to link MAC addresses to specific computers or mobile devices. In the case of mobile devices, the software would possibly access registration information for a user’s SIM card and bind it to the user’s MAC address.
The Ministry of Communications refused to comment on Roskomnadzor’s proposal.