See title.

I just changed my families router WIFI to be hidden, thinking it would be safer.
But right after I read GrapheneOS usage guide and it says it reduces privacy.

So how bad is it to leave it like this?
I just connected every device in my family after my dads email got hacked (admittedly it was his fault, very bad boomer level security measures on his side).

    Renovate1025

    From what I understand it's basically for two reasons.

    First is that even if the SSID is "hidden" it's still easy enough for someone who knows what they're doing to discover its existence. With wireless signals flying through the air, it's impossible to fully hide an access point.

    Second is that it draws attention to you since you're different. If someone were to attempt to brute force the password, they'd possibly think that a hidden wifi makes the owner think using an easier password is okay. Or maybe they're hiding something interesting.

    Overall I don't think it really matters that much if your AP uses up to date protocols and you set a unique and hard to guess/crack password. Don't let your dad pick the password.

    The primary reason is because it deanonymizes your device anywhere you have Wi-Fi turned on, even if it's not actively connected to a Wi-Fi access point.

    With a non-hidden SSID, the access point sends out beacons to announce its presence so clients can connect to it. When you hide your SSID, beacons are not sent from the access point. Instead, clients (like your phone) constantly send out probe requests looking for hidden SSIDs that are saved to your device. These probe requests are sent unencrypted and are sent for every hidden SSID you have saved. This set of hidden SSIDs makes a fingerprint for your device that is broadcasted unencrypted and easy to passively sniff.