London's Tube network to switch on Wi-Fi tracking by default in July

Transport for London will roll out default wi-fi device tracking on the London Underground this summer, following a trial back in 2016. In a press release announcing the move, TfL writes that "secure, privacy-protected data collection will begin on July 8" -- while touting additional services, such as improved alerts about delays and congestion, which it frames as "customer benefits", as expected to launch "later in the year". As well as offering additional alerts-based services to passengers via its own website/apps, TfL says it could incorporate crowding data into its free open-data API -- to allow app developers, academics and businesses to expand the utility of the data by baking it into their own products and services.