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How to opt out of having your wi-fi access point used for big tech mapping services (support.google.com)
submitted 3 days ago by andioop@programming.dev to c/deshittification@thebrainbin.org
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cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/51680303 where I suggest you check for more discussion on the topic.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/51680197

Append “_nomap” to the end of your SSIDs to instruct Google not to use your wi-fi access point for their mapping services.

To do the same for Apple, add “_optout” to the end of your SSIDs¹.

To boycott both, the rumor is that Google’s “_nomap” must be last, but Apple’s “_optout” flag must be in the penultimate position if and only if Google’s token is at the end. So you might have an SSID like “boycottCloudflare_optout_nomap” to boycott the baddies, for example. But note that “boycottCloudflare” is merely symbolic, to raise awareness of the web’s most harmful enshitifier.

¹ sorry to say I have no reference to cite for the Apple rules. It’s just a rumor.

update

The Apple opt-out procedure has apparently changed to align with Google. Someone refers to this page for Apple.

update 2

Mapquest is suddenly gaining popularity.

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[-] WFloyd@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

I really do get wanting to opt out for privacy reasons, but at the same time, it's a useful thing for getting a location fix much easier/quicker. Obviously the big players have been doing this for years, but Mozilla used to as well, and when they stopped it became much harder to find a good open source/free location service. Same idea applies to cell towers, it's much easier to get a GPS fix when you already roughly know where you are. I use NeoStumbler on long road trips to help map cell towers to beaconDB (they also honor _nomap, and don't update location for a year if you move your router so it doesn't track you).

this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2026
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