Paris Bathroom WiFi Tracks You

So this is a relatively typical bathroom at a train station in Europe. Like many public restrooms here, you have to pay for entry, which is supposed to help defray the costs to keep it clean.

But look closely at the right-hand side of the door.

 

Social WiFi
Social Wifi is offered inside the restrooms

What is “So WiFi”, well you can visit their site here to find out more, and this appears generally as a potential great idea.

But let’s go a little deeper.

The issue with a company running this type of WiFi is that, by definition, the traffic is being analyzed at all times to help “better understand customers.”

Ruh-Roh…

From their site:

Get powerful visitor insights & build your contact list

As your visitors use your guest-WiFi, the SO WIFI system gathers your visitors’ personal data. This includes Age, Gender, Email address, and Location.
You’ll get insights into who exactly your guests are. Build contact lists of proven visitors faster than ever before.

The bolding is theirs, not mine.

Anyway, just thought I’d point out to you that not only do they find out who you are, they can also see every single website you visit. Remember, an “access point” like a router is exactly what it sounds like. All access passes through that point and therefore can be tracked. Since you also gave them your personal information to log in… well, you probably see how this flushes from here.