London Underground passengers urged to turn their Wi-Fi OFF - here's why

If you live in London, your daily commute likely consists of standing on a busy tube with a stranger’s armpit shoved in your face.

While connecting to the London Underground Wi-Fi can be an easy way to ease this discomfort, researchers have warned that this isn’t a good idea.

From today, Transport for London (TfL) will begin monitoring Wi-Fi signals on the network to understand how passengers use the tube.

TfL says that it plans to use this data to improve services.

(Photolibrary RM)

Lauren Sager Weinstein, Chief Data Officer at Transport for London, said: “The benefits this new depersonalised dataset could unlock across our network - from providing customers with better alerts about overcrowding to helping station staff have a better understanding of the network in near-real time — are enormous.

"By better understanding overall patterns and flows, we can provide better information to our customers and help us plan and operate our transport network more effectively for all."

However, experts claim that the tactic leaves passengers vulnerable.

Speaking to The Telegraph , Simon Migliano, a security expert at PrivacyCo, said: “If you want to be absolutely sure of your privacy, turning off Wi-Fi is the only surefire solution.”

To collect this data, TfL will use existing Wi-Fi beacons in stations.

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Worryingly, users don’t even need to be connected to the beacon to have their data harvested, as the system relies on signals automatically sent out from devices with their Wi-Fi turned on.

While TfL reassures that the passenger data will be depersonalised and encrypted, experts claim that this isn’t enough.

Mr Migliano explained: “Violating its customers’ privacy in such a risky way is a step too far.”

If you’re in London this week and travelling on the Underground, you should see signs and posters explaining the project.

Ms Weinstein added: "“While I am excited about the potential of this new dataset, I am equally mindful of the responsibility that comes with it.

"We take our customers’ privacy extremely seriously and will not identify individuals from the Wi-Fi data collected.

"Transparency, privacy and ethics need to be at the forefront of data work in society and we recognise the trust that our customers place in us, and safeguarding our customers’ data is absolutely fundamental.”