Does a VPN Provider Know My MAC Address?
I have often wondered if a VPN provider has access to my MAC address when I am connected to their service. After doing some research, I have found that this is not the case.
MAC addresses are layer 2 addresses, which means they are only sent to the next router in the chain. When you connect to a VPN, the VPN provider’s router is not considered the next router in the chain. Therefore, they do not have access to your MAC address.
Tunnel interfaces, which are used by VPNs, do not have media addresses assigned to them. Additionally, any address assigned to another interface, such as a virtual bridge for virtual machines, would be different from your network card’s MAC address.
So, you can rest assured that your MAC address remains private when you are connected to a VPN provider.