[citation needed] Legal issues might arise if the software is run on multiple devices at once by using MAC spoofing.
[5] If a user chooses to spoof their MAC address in order to protect their privacy,[citation needed] this is called identity masking.
Even the secure IEEE 802.11i-2004 (WPA) encryption method does not prevent Wi-Fi networks from sending out MAC addresses.
[citation needed] Hence, in order to avoid being tracked, the user might choose to spoof the device's MAC address.
However, computer crackers use the same technique to bypass access control methods such as MAC filtering, without revealing their identity.
In June 2014, Apple announced that future versions of iOS would randomize MAC addresses for all WiFi connections.
The Linux kernel has supported MAC address randomization during network scans since March 2015,[7] but drivers need to be updated to use this feature.
In the 2012 indictment against Aaron Swartz, an Internet hacktivist who was accused of illegally accessing files from the JSTOR digital library, prosecutors claimed that because he had spoofed his MAC address, this showed purposeful intent to commit criminal acts.
[5] In June 2014, Apple announced that future versions of their iOS platform would randomize MAC addresses for all WiFi connections, making it more difficult for internet service providers to track user activities and identities, which resurrected moral and legal arguments surrounding the practice of MAC spoofing among several blogs and newspapers.