How Apple’s new software makes it harder for retailers to track your movements

Most consumers know that their shopping is being tracked online; but many don't realize how easy smartphones have made similar tracking possible in your local mall. Now, Apple has taken measures to stop the practice that lets stores track shoppers by way of a unique code generated by a phone's wireless Internet connection. Consumers will see those changes when Apple's new operating system, iOS 8, hits iPhones this year. Retailers have kept tabs on consumers by tracking the unique code that smartphones send out when trying to connect to wireless networks, known as a MAC address. Under Apple’s new system, the code will be randomized, making it impossible for stores to identify iPhone users in this way, though phones running other operating systems would still be trackable.