The privacy warning can be triggered for many reasons - which may (but are not necessarily) related to your WiFi Router’s network and security settings, or settings of your iPad. To understand to source of the warning - and what if anything you can do to suppress it - you must look a little deeper into your iPad settings for more information.
If you tap the blue “i” icon that appears next to your WiFi network name, you should see more information about network security settings - or perhaps a warning about WiFi Private Addressing being turned off…
If you see warnings concerning “weak security” or other elements of your WiFi setup, your WiFi network may benefit from update in either settings or improved hardware. This support page will describe the more secure (recommended) settings for WiFi:
Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points – Apple Support
It is possible that your WiFi Router is too old to be (or not capable of being) configured for more secure settings. As such, you can either configure the most secure settings that your Router will support - or replace your Router with something more advanced that provides better security configuration options.
Whilst WPA3 is the newest standard, you should aim to use WPA2 (AES-PSK) as a minimum. Some Routers seemingly continue to support the insecure/deprecated TKIP standards - even when apparently configured for WPA2 operation; TKIP will definitely cause a security warning to appear. Be aware that if you are using a WiFi network extender, these may continue to use weaker security standards - and continue to trigger a warning.
There is a also new privacy feature included within iPadOS14/15 that hides your physical MAC Address - and instead uses a randomly selected Private MAC Address. This feature can be enabled/disabled on your iPhone/iPad for each configured WiFi Network - and provides additional privacy and security when using “public” (untrusted) WiFi networks. This feature is largely unnecessary for your home WiFi network.
The new WiFi Private Address feature provides additional privacy and security when using “public” (untrusted) WiFi networks. This feature is largely unnecessary and adds little if any benefit for your home WiFi network. More information about this specific feature can be found here:
Use private Wi-Fi addresses on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support
If you are unable to employ more secure security settings on your WiFi network, you might consider replacement of your WiFi network equipment, such as your WiFi Router, with more advanced equipment. However, if the router is provided by your ISP, this may not be practical proposition. A potentially cheaper and more flexible approach might be to add an additional upstream WiFi Router, of WiFi Access Point (AP) that meets the required standards.
The iPad User Guide is also a rich source of information about using iPad and its many features. The Guide is available both online using a web browser (such as Safari), or as an Apple Books download:
iPad User Guide - Apple Support
https://books.apple.com/book/id1567104892
