San Francisco’s public Wi-FI is now safe and encrypted

Security on public WiFi tends to be either non-existent or a bit of a hassle; it’s not fun to track down passwords just so that you can get online from the street corner. If you frequently visit downtown San Francisco, though, it’s now a relative breeze. The city has launched a new version of its public WiFi that uses the Hotspot 2.0 standard to give you an encrypted connection with a minimum of fuss. So long as you’re using a recent platform , you only have to install a simple profile to get going instead of putting in some credentials.

The City and County of San Francisco Department of Technology is pleased to announce a new technology enabling security while accessing the City Free Public Wi-Fi. This technology is called Hotspot 2.0 and demonstrates our constant effort to innovate. HotSpot 2.0 is simplifying Wi-Fi access and enabling a secure connection. The Department of Technology has started to broadcast this new technology as a pilot program over Market Street on June 5, 2014. Currently, HotSpot 2.0 is available for modern Apple devices (iOS 7.0+). All other devices will enable HotSpot 2.0 in the near future. After connecting to San Francisco Free Public Wi-Fi, select the “Continue with Secure WiFi”, and install the customer profile, you will enable an encrypted secure connection while connected to the San Francisco Free Public Wi-Fi network. The installation of the customer profile is required only the first time.