Although it is not the only metadata broadcast by network hardware, changing the default [MAC Address](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address) of your hardware could be [an important step in protecting privacy](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/design/MAC_address/#index1h1).
Currently, Qubes OS *does not* automatically "anonymize" or spoof the MAC Address, so unless this gets implemented by default you can randomize your MAC Address with the following guide.
Newer versions of Network Manager have a robust set of options for randomizing MAC addresses, and can handle the entire process across reboots, sleep/wake cycles and different connection states.
In particular, versions 1.4.2 and later should be well suited for Qubes.
Network Manager 1.4.2 or later is available from the Fedora 25 repository as well as the Debian 9 repository, which you can install by [upgrading a Debian 8 template to version 9.](/doc/debian-template-upgrade-8/)
Write the settings to a new file in the `/etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/` directory, such as `mac.conf`.
The following example enables Wifi and Ethernet MAC address randomization while scanning (not connected), and uses a randomly generated but persistent MAC address for each individual Wifi and Ethernet connection profile.
Next, create a new NetVM using the new template and assign network devices to it.
Finally, shutdown all VMs and change the settings of sys-firewall, etc. to use the new NetVM.
You can check the MAC address currently in use by looking at the status pages of your router device(s), or in the NetVM with the command `sudo ip link show`.
