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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

#51

Post by herbst »

pluc wrote: post #49
d5lt5 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you heard of a website called facebook?

There was a time where the default assumption was functionality created tracking opportunities. Nowadays, it's more the opposite. Social media have always been on the forefront of monetizing data, but the same data in the hands of governments is used differently. My point is that the way you/we feel towards Facebook, the entire world is increasingly feeling about most, if not all, US tech. I know people who won't use…

I know people who avoid US tech and happily use Chinese or Russian tech here in central Europe. Not trusting US tech isn't new, it just gets a lot worse

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#52

Post by xeyownt »

Eddy_Viscosity2 wrote: post #39
xeyownt wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sure, but the problem then is not systemd machineid, but rather the browser reading it and making it available for such identification (don't know if there is a browser out there doing that though).

Unless anonymization is provided by your browser, there is nothing you can do to prevent such identification technology run by these advertisers to build your profile, and send you targeted ads.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#53

Post by nickjj »

givinguflac wrote: post #17
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...

Is this specific to Debian?

Nope, but Debian does use systemd by default so it's there.

I'm running Arch Linux and /etc/machine-id is present.

There's also an optional /etc/machine-info file that could exist. It's not a part of systemd and won't be created by default. It's more of an informal way to have details about the system in 1 spot. It was more popular when provisioning bare metal servers but still has value in the cloud. You can have key / value pairs on who to contact, where it's located, what type of machine it is, etc..

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#54

Post by noisy_boy »

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…

> this is a good lesson for founders. The culture you build into your company will likely outlast your tenure.

Good founders already know this. Bad ones don't care.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#55

Post by xeyownt »

ezoe wrote: post #44
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...

But does browser send these id?

No.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#56

Post by type0 »

Eddy_Viscosity2 wrote: post #39
xeyownt wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

And petty criminals that set up fake fake websites to steal your money, ad-networks are also commonly used to spread malware so limiting the number of attack surfaces is the only sane thing to do.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#57

Post by dizhn »

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

This is basically FUD and has been for at least 20 years. Please refrain from it. I am not fixing nothing daily.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#58

Post by anthk »

tremon wrote: post #15
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…

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...

As an Hyperbola user both systemd and dbus are a no-no there.

Re: Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

#60

Post by anthk »

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

Actual hackers don't need to run debloating tools each boot getting tired of all the adware and bundled crap eating GB's of storage.

Actual hackers would use Guix System and actually hack really cool stuff and, yes, Guix (the package manager) would be eating GB's because of reproducibility... but at least you could restore your system from Grub anytime.

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