With an influx of in-store mobile WiFi tracking, AVG Technologies has developed and rolled out a free smartphone app designed to block WiFi location tracking, Forbes reports. The new “DNT” feature is an add-on to AVG’s PrivacyFix app for Android. When downloaded, the technology prevents the mobile device from transmitting its MAC address. AVG Vice President of Privacy Products Jim Brock said that until retailers adopt “meaningful standards,” including transparency, or provide consumers with an opt-out mechanism, “consumers are better off shutting out this kind of tracking.” In October, Daily Dashboard reported on an initiative by the Wireless Registry and the Future of Privacy Forum to offer a brick-and-mortar Do-Not-Track registry for MAC addresses.
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