MAC Address Connection with Purchase Info

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Other questions on this forum have made it clear that the MAC address is not mostly not visible outside the local area network. I want to dig a little deeper about this.

When one buys a tablet or laptop device, is the MAC address included in the record of purchase? Meaning, if I buy the device with a credit card from Best Buy, is the record of that purchase (device, MAC, CC number, and name) available hackable by a foreign intelligence agency that is illegally tracking online usage?

Thanks

Marty F

Posted 2018-11-15T01:44:34.130

Reputation: 1

Question was closed 2018-11-15T12:28:01.223

I think that whatever is worrying you is a terrible confusion that you have... I recommend you to read a little bit about OSI model... – Jorge Valentini – 2018-11-15T02:42:50.523

No one here can tell you if retailers track the MAC of products they sell. Such a question is off-topic. – I say Reinstate Monica – 2018-11-15T02:47:04.237

Sorry, Twisty, if it's off-topic then it's my bad. But since the issue of MAC address and privacy has been covered extensively in the past on this forum, I thought that extending it one further step would still be a legitimate question. The issue being, of course, if there is a master database of MAC addresses then all the other info on this forum about MAC addresses being hidden behind your router or VPN are moot if the MAC database can be hacked, or misused by an intelligence agency or law enforcement. Just read earlier today that the CIA was spying internally on Americans, by the way. – Marty F – 2018-11-15T06:35:57.503

re: #2 -- There's nothing to preclude it, but it's impossible to say what would apply to a specific item from a specific retailer. – fixer1234 – 2018-11-15T12:26:14.993

Answers

1

  1. (Assuming perfectly normal network traffic - no 3rd party software intentionally sending MAC address data outside) - MAC address of your device will only be used between your device, and the next device it is connected to (your router). Any traffic between your router to the ISP will have the Router's MAC address, and the ISP device MAC address (and so on).
  2. That depends purely on the seller on what information they kept. Mind you some devices have their MAC address / serial number displayed on a label on the outside of the box.

If an intelligence agency is really out to get you - the 2 above questions/answers are probably the least of your worry.

Darius

Posted 2018-11-15T01:44:34.130

Reputation: 4 817

"Depends purely on the seller" implies to me that keeping the MAC address as a record of purchase is yes. I'm hoping to get more than a guess for an answer, so I hope that someone else might be able to answer more definitely. – Marty F – 2018-11-15T02:19:37.353

@MartyF You can assume all you like, but in the end, some seller will, some seller won't. If you want to be 100% sure, contact the seller and confirm what they kept as part of their data collection / privacy policy. Also don't forget to check the state / federal policy as that should be the primary guide of whether a seller kept information or not. – Darius – 2018-11-15T02:35:53.150

Asked: 2018-11-15T01:44:34.130

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Active: 2018-11-15T14:51:19.670