Apple patent: Open WLANs better sorted
At the moment, it is not possible to determine how good or secure free Wi-Fi networks are from the iOS view. In future, a smart ranking should help.
WLAN sign.
(Image: dpa, Jan Woitas/ZB/dpa)
Open Wi-Fi in hotels, on the train or in restaurants is practical, but not necessarily secure: you never know what will happen to your data, which is why it is always recommended to use a VPN - either via your home network or a VPN service provider. Apple now seems to be planning to use various techniques to bring more trust to the world of free Wi-Fi providers. This is the result of a new patent application that became public this week.
Crowdsourcing for better Wi-Fi
The application was filed under the heading "Crowd-Sourced Privacy Preserving Access Point Mapping" and describes a system in which existing Wi-Fi base stations in the vicinity are to be checked for their trustworthiness with user assistance, but in such a way that privacy is preserved. Apple describes a system in which the Wi-Fi display in iOS or on the Mac will be ranked in future. Networks would then be sorted according to characteristics such as "Popular", "Suspicious", "High quality" or "Captive" (these are networks where you have to log in via a captive portal, such as hotels).
To implement this, anonymized data is to be collected about the Wi-Fi access points that users connect to. Personal information or location data will not be stored. The data and network performance will then be evaluated on Apple's servers in order to carry out the ranking.
So far only a patent, no product
It was not initially clear from the patent how Apple identifies networks that are "suspicious". It is conceivable that users themselves could be queried. Other ranking elements such as "Popular", "Captive" or "High quality" can be identified via connection patterns. Apple does not appear to want to rank some of the networks at all, presumably because there is not yet enough data available.
As is always the case with patent applications, these are initially only inventions that a company wants to protect. They do not necessarily have to result in products; sometimes they only serve to protect intellectual property legally. Accordingly, they also cover the broadest possible areas and possible applications.
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