How to use a private network address on iPhone

You can use a private network address on each Wi-Fi network your iPhone joins, and turn it off for a network that can't use one.

Last updated: October 16, 2026 7:47 pm

By Tom Griffin - Executive Editor

0 Min Read

To help protect your privacy, your iPhone uses a unique private network address, called a media access control (MAC) address, on each Wi-Fi network it joins.

If a network can’t use a private address, like to provide parental controls or to identify your iPhone as authorized to join, you can stop using one for that network. Keeping a private address on helps limit how your iPhone is tracked across different Wi-Fi networks, though.

Turn a private address off for a network

Open Settings and tap Wi-Fi. Then tap the Settings button for a network.
Turn Private Address off.

Important: For better privacy, leave Private Address turned on for all networks that support it. Using a private address helps reduce tracking of your iPhone across different Wi-Fi networks.

TAGGED:Wi-Fi

ByTom Griffin

Executive Editor

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Tom Griffin is the editor-in-chief at GeeksChalk where he oversees all of site’s evergreen content to ensure it’s up to date with the latest information. Hailing from London in the UK, he has over seven years of experience in the tech journalism space and holds a degree in English Literature. In his spare time, Tom can found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, and petting every dog he comes across in the outside world.