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Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

pcmag.com

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Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#31

Post by reactordev »

cheschire wrote: post #12

Well they can’t use that to track users of Linux. I was a big fan of Microsoft ten to fifteen years ago. I’ve since transitioned my whole family off Microsoft products now over to Linux, Apple, and proton. Edit: and Brave. I really thought their corporate culture would’ve changed after the late 90’s but I guess this is a good lesson for founders. The culture you build into your company will likely outlast your tenure…

Aww you missed the Ballmer Years. Chalked full of "me too!"'s and broken promises. But he was right about one thing. Developers, developers, developers...

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#32

Post by reactordev »

midtake wrote: post #8

To me this indicates that Microsoft has some sort of traffic analysis performed on endpoints, then linked to GDID. I'd guess this is part of Defender's real time protection or MAPS. Fun fact, Microsoft Defender MAPS was previously named SpyNet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Active_Protection_Se... The GDID identifier seems software in nature though. They could be more aggressive and tie it to the baseboard'…

that's the idea behind SecureBoot and the TPM chip is to provide the GDID based on hardware fingerprint. Some games already do this as "anti-cheat" measurements (tracking you) and Microsoft has been doing it since Windows 7 days. It's just that the TPM now gives you that hardware authority.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#33

Post by gcr »

heikkilevanto wrote: post #19
tremon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both systemd and dbus have a similar device id for Linux, which e.g. Chrome reads at startup: https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/systemd/machine-id.5.en.h... https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/dbus-bin/dbus-uuidgen.1.e...

I don't like the idea of a persistent id for my machine. Would there be any harm in rewriting the machine-id at every boot? Or just deleting it as part of the shutdown sequence?

The supported method to get a new one each boot is to truncate the file to 0 bytes and disable systemd-machine-id-commit.service

Double-check that this method actually works though.

Machine ID is used for things like dhcp leases, log rotation, etc. IPV6 addresses or transient MAC addresses are derived from it

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#34

Post by gcr »

efilife wrote: post #22
egamirorrim wrote: post #10

Truly terrifying. But also shocking that a 'hacker' is using windows

Some hackers want to spend their time doing cool stuff rather than constantly fixing their system

when it comes to video gaming I’ve found Bazzite to be generally far less fiddly than windows 11, surprisingly

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#35

Post by xeyownt »

heikkilevanto wrote: post #19
tremon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both systemd and dbus have a similar device id for Linux, which e.g. Chrome reads at startup: https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/systemd/machine-id.5.en.h... https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/dbus-bin/dbus-uuidgen.1.e...

I don't like the idea of a persistent id for my machine. Would there be any harm in rewriting the machine-id at every boot? Or just deleting it as part of the shutdown sequence?

Whatever you do there will always be uniquely identifiable information (if not an id, a fingerprint) on your machine.

If you want to escape that, you have to use dedicated privacy-enhancing tools / browsers, but even then, it's very likely that you can still be identified by motivated adversaries.

It doesn't mean you have to give up, but, if such id is necessary for technical reasons in systemd (I guess it is), I wouldn't worry too much.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#36

Post by layla5alive »

heikkilevanto wrote: post #19
tremon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both systemd and dbus have a similar device id for Linux, which e.g. Chrome reads at startup: https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/systemd/machine-id.5.en.h... https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/dbus-bin/dbus-uuidgen.1.e...

I don't like the idea of a persistent id for my machine. Would there be any harm in rewriting the machine-id at every boot? Or just deleting it as part of the shutdown sequence?

dhcp uses it by default nowadays.. but you can tell dhcp to use your mac address instead (like it used to)..

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1498611/ubuntu-dhcp-client-u... (linked because depending on version, there are several different ways to make this change..)

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#37

Post by drw85 »

efilife wrote: post #22
egamirorrim wrote: post #10

Truly terrifying. But also shocking that a 'hacker' is using windows

Some hackers want to spend their time doing cool stuff rather than constantly fixing their system

I switched to linux a year ago and in that year had less problems than on Windows.

I had some minor problems after updates once or twice. On Windows i had to boot into restore mode multiple times due to Windows Update screwing something up.

The MS Store also constantly had trouble updating apps and games and i had to manage packages manually and uninstall and reinstall them so it would work again until the next update.

The times were Windows is easy to use and fire and forget are long gone. The decline in quality is noticeable.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#38

Post by inigyou »

gcr wrote: post #33
heikkilevanto wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't like the idea of a persistent id for my machine. Would there be any harm in rewriting the machine-id at every boot? Or just deleting it as part of the shutdown sequence?

The supported method to get a new one each boot is to truncate the file to 0 bytes and disable systemd-machine-id-commit.service Double-check that this method actually works though. Machine ID is used for things like dhcp leases, log rotation, etc. IPV6 addresses or transient MAC addresses are derived from it

I thought the kernel generated SLAAC addresses based on MAC and privacy addresses based on random numbers.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#39

Post by Eddy_Viscosity2 »

xeyownt wrote: post #35
heikkilevanto wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't like the idea of a persistent id for my machine. Would there be any harm in rewriting the machine-id at every boot? Or just deleting it as part of the shutdown sequence?

Whatever you do there will always be uniquely identifiable information (if not an id, a fingerprint) on your machine. If you want to escape that, you have to use dedicated privacy-enhancing tools / browsers, but even then, it's very likely that you can still be identified by motivated adversaries. It doesn't mean you have to give up, but, if such id is necessary for technical reasons in systemd (I guess it is), I wou…

> motivated adversaries.

This sounds like you're referring to state actors and intelligence agencies, but really this applies to the entire advertising/surveillance industry of people trying to sell you a new flavor of soda.

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