General question about Macs and privacy

So kind of a complicated question but im just about ready to swear off my mac so wanna do some investigating...

So I just reccently started working at a comapny in my hometown that sells only apple products, not apple direct ..

So reccently one of our employees got fired for theft, all well and good he got what he deserved...

But our stores owner is saying hes reporting the mac address of stolen property to the local police and through tht they can track a mac address and get a search warrant...

I have no stolen property but this makes me worry about my systems privacy... Some random bloke can phone the police with my mac address and get my door kicked down?

This doesnt seem overly legal to me ...

Im concerned and will ditch the Mac Os all together if this is true, i would expect this from windows but not mac...

looking for some honest answers are valued here...

It doesn't matter on what OS you use all of then have a MAC (Media Access Control address) Addresses.
It's a unique identifier assigned to *all* objects that can connect to the internet.
MAC address - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So they can infact tract that mac and file a police report?...

that seems like a gross invasion of privacy..

They can also track that networked printer, iPod, windoze pc, etc

First, some random bloke would have to have the MAC address of your device in order to report it.

Second, that random bloke would also need some proof it was stolen from him.

Third, you will have to ditch the idea of ever getting on the internet again.

Fourth, exactly how would that be an invasion of privacy? In this particular case, the tracking would not be of an individual, but on a single piece of stolen equipment.

Fifth, you are not already aware that every single site you visit has access to your IP address, who your ISP happens to be and more?

As has been said already, this has nothing to do with the Macintosh computer or OSX. EVERY device with a network port has a MAC (Media Access Controller) address. MAC has nothing to do with OSX or a Macintosh computer.

Bobtomay said the rest of what I would have said and worded it quite well.

If you want to be safe from a MAC address, get off the internet. A Windows system has a MAC address. A linux system has a MAC address. As long as there is a Network controller in the machine, it has a unique MAC address.

And don't worry about it. Experienced investigators will require much, much evidence of stolen property than this yokel's say so. It is usual for a complainant, such as this rooster, to swear an affadavit before they will approach a magistrate/justice/judge for a search warrant.

He is an empty vessel and they make the most noise. Also discuss this with your employer who may well know the local detectives and he can drop a word in their ear about this rooster.

tardis2424 said:

So they can infact tract that mac and file a police report?...

that seems like a gross invasion of privacy..

Click to expand...

You clearly didn't read the link he posted.

Half knowledge is more lethal than no-knowledge at all..full knowledge (if possible) is the best thing..you are currently in the half knowledge state..before randomly freaking out, learn a LITTLE bit about how things work..

Regards