Have you ever been “betrayed” by your own cell phone? If so, you will understand what we mean, if not, imagine going to a friend’s house for the first time and device automatically to WiFi. Imagine not wanting to hear notifications from Messenger, Instagram, Viber and because your cell phone automatically connected, you press it. Imagine going to a business meeting and because WiFi is free, your device automatically connects. Wouldn’t you be worried that your future employer might be looking for you (this case assumes that the employer is a little “cool”)?
Below we report a recent incident where automatic WiFi connection proved fatal for four young students, as well as ways to disable the feature to give you peace of mind.
Four students in Maryland, United States, who were accused of vandalizing buildings with racist, homophobic and antisemitic words and images, were identified because phones had automatically connected to the campus WiFi network.
To access the school's WiFi network, students must log in from their phones with unique IDs that will then automatically connect whenever they are on campus. The Howard County Times reported that the Wi-Fi was what helped identify the students involved.
Despite covering their faces with T-shirts to shield themselves from security cameras, the four teenagers were automatically logged onto campus at 11:35 p.m. on May 23, 2018, the night the offenses occurred. Security cameras show the four individuals painting graffiti, swastikas, racist and homophobic slurs, and all over the place.
As expected, the teenagers were sentenced to community service and imprisonment for 18 weeks.
Ways to disable automatic WiFi connection
devices iPhone and iPad connect Auto-Join to each WiFi profile. When enabled, your device will automatically connect to the network when it is in range.
To stop it, go to Settings > Wi-Fi and tap the small (i) next to the network name to find the Auto-connect button. Turn off to disable the auto-connect feature.
If you don't want it to connect to any networks you haven't used before, like an open network at a hotel or restaurant, go to the WiFi settings page and turn off Ask to Join Networks. Turning this feature off will force you to manually select the networks you want to connect to.
To stop your Android device from automatically connecting to WiFi, go to Settings and Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi preferences. Tap the button next to Connect to turn the feature off.
Selecting the gear/settings icon next to the network you are connected to will allow you to delete the connection details so you are not automatically connected next time.
