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Microsoft confirms Windows GDID device identifier that cannot be disabled
- londons_explore 3mo agoHow exactly does Microsoft link their gdid to a hotel booking? Hotels last I saw don't collect an obscure gdid... Did this victim use edge and sync their browser history or something perhaps?
- mixdup 3mo agoProbably had his laptop with him and they simply traced the gdid to a specific IP address that they determined belonged to the hotel
- crtasm 3mo agoEdge seems likely. Its settings include: >Send optional diagnostic data to improve Microsoft products [Includes how you use the browser, websites you visit, and enhanced error reporting. Determined by your Windows diagnostic data setting] >Allow Microsoft to save your browsing activity including history, usage, favourites, web content, and other browsing data to personalise and improve Microsoft Edge and Microsoft services like ads, search, shopping, news, and Copilot [Includes your history, usage, favourites, web content and other browsing data]
- CommieBobDole 3mo agoThere's a blurb in the article: >"Massgrave, the group behind Microsoft Activation Scripts, has noted that Windows setup sends hardware info to Microsoft and receives identifiers back that are later used for Store access and licensing. Blocking GDID assignment breaks both activation and UWP apps." I think probably it sends the gdid back to Microsoft as part of telemetry/updates/MS account periodic re-auth, which lets them know the current IP address, and then once the government has Microsoft's logs and the various target websites' logs, they can correlate based on IP address. I don't think it's actually sending the gdid to the web sites. Maybe. This serves to further illustrate that nobody should be using Windows for anything that involves the need for privacy. And doubly, triply, and morefold so, nobody should ever sign a Windows machine into a MS account for any reason.
- ndiddy 3mo agoEdge has a feature where it will periodically pull the bookmarks and browsing history from any other browsers you have installed, so they'll then get sent to Microsoft and associated with your Microsoft account. This was initially enabled by default without the user's consent, although I believe now you may have to opt into it if you do a fresh Windows install. I only realized this was a thing because one time my work PC rebooted to install an update, then Edge came up instead of Firefox, but with all my Firefox tabs. I guess this was part of some effort to try to trick old people who wouldn't notice the difference into switching to Edge. Here's a news article about someone else running into this when it started happening: https://www.theverge.com/24054329/microsoft-edge-automatic-chrome-import-data-feature https://www.theverge.com/24054329/microsoft-edge-automatic-c...
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- VerifiedReports 3mo ago"Old" people? How about the vast majority of the public, which is not represented on HN? Not to mention that one of the many major UI regressions in Windows is the removal of title bars from application windows, which is fundamental to this "trick." Try opening a PDF in Edge and also in Acrobat. Neither window has a title bar, and they are otherwise almost identical. You have to scrutinize the very few controls around the window to determine which app you're looking at. Microsoft and its software are trash now.
- buccal 3mo agoAdobe provides PDF viewer that is embedded in Edge...
- VerifiedReports 3mo agoSo?
- VCFundedGenYer 3mo agoEdge has less browser market share than Firefox right now, it's not the "vast majority."
- WalterGR 3mo agoHow does the GDID compare to the UDID (Unique Device Identifier) and serial number in iOS; and the Apple Hardware UUID and serial number of Macs?
- PunchyHamster 3mo agowell, mostly the name. And the fact MS gave away GDID - IP mapping to the govt.
- autoexec 3mo agoIs there any reason to think that the government couldn't force Apple to hand over the same data? They may or may not have taken over entire rooms at Apple (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A) but you can bet they've at least got devices sitting on their network collecting data.
- Terr_ 3mo agoOn the subject of serial numbers, the ones for your hardware and peripherals are also being transmitted as "telemetry", which gives them even more options to spying on you, ex: 1. If your printer has tracking dots [0] then a printed flyer can be tracked back to your computer, IP, and MS/Apple account. 2. If a device is reported on two computers, MS/Apple know there is some kind of connection between the computers. [0] https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-d...
- 14u2c 3mo ago> The ID is generated when Windows is set up with a Microsoft Account So not only was this “hacker” using Windows and Edge, they singed in to windows with a Microsoft account. And then used that same computer for their social media. Nice.
- crtasm 3mo agoThe ID is generated even if you only create a local user account. I don't know to what extent that affects tracking/telemetry though.
- steve1977 3mo agoIt's fascinating, right? I'm not a "hacker" by any means, but I would probably use a Qubes based system with a dedicated "hacking" VM, only use anonymous VPNs connected from public WiFi access points (having left my mobile at home) while wearing a fake beard and STILL be paranoid that I somehow somewhere make a mistake.
- ffaccount2 3mo agoThat's what hackers do in popular stories, right? In reality, most cybercriminsls just don't care that much (they usually use Tor browser, though). I mean they mostly use discord and telegram (both unencrypted). Serious "hackers" are usually state sponsored now, or members of mature groups.
- Cider9986 3mo agoThey don't care, I would say they don't know. I saw an article where they analyzed the leaked IP addresses from a breach forum, and some of the top ten were Surfshark and iCloud Private relay.
- gruez 3mo ago>and some of the top ten were Surfshark and iCloud Private relay. what's wrong with icloud private relay? It uses a 2-hop architecture so it's probably more private than any single-hop VPN.
- ChrisArchitect 3mo ago[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48872561 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48872561
- drnick1 3mo agoOne more proof that Windows is malware.
- ranger_danger 3mo agoLinux has the same kind of identifier at /etc/machine-id... readable by default by basically any application on the system.
- aftbit 3mo agoWhich is also well documented and trivially rotatable by anyone with root on the machine. How do you rotate the MS identifier?
- ranger_danger 3mo agohttps://github.com/gd03gd031/Windows-GDID-Changer https://github.com/gd03gd031/Windows-GDID-Changer > well documented and trivially rotatable Yes, but almost nobody does that or complains about it at all, even though applications may have been silently phoning it home for many years now.
- gruez 3mo ago>https://github.com/gd03gd031/Windows-GDID-Changer https://github.com/gd03gd031/Windows-GDID-Changer sounds like you can rotate it, but it doesn't really matter because the registration/rotation process sends a bunch of static information to microsoft, which means they can re-correlate the the old id back to the new id.
- ranger_danger 3mo agoSurely the sending of the GDID to MS can be blocked?
- aftbit 3mo agoWhich applications do this?
- 1970-01-01 3mo ago>The Global Device Identifier (GDID) is a permanent ID assigned when Windows provisions against a Microsoft Account. So again, the "make an account" is the part you ALWAYS skip. Local accounts or it technically isn't even a PC anymore.
- ranger_danger 3mo agoThe article is misleading... the GDID is created even if you don't use a Microsoft account.
- 1970-01-01 3mo agoSources state the opposite. It is driven my the MS account. https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/07/10/you-cant-fully-disable-microsofts-gdid-windows-11-tracker-but-these-settings-limit-what-it-captures/ https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/07/10/you-cant-fully-disa...
- crtasm 3mo ago>A Global Device ID (GDID) is a permanent, unique digital fingerprint that Microsoft automatically assigns to your computer when you install Windows or sign into a Microsoft account. Note the "or" I own a Windows 10 machine which has never signed into a Microsoft account. It still has a GDID in the registry.
- 1970-01-01 3mo agoWhat's your point? There are thousands of GUIDs in the registry.
- ranger_danger 3mo agoGUID != GDID
- AlienRobot 3mo agoThey caught a 19 year old hacker that uses Edge, and all it took was the privacy of 1.4 billion Windows users.
- globalnode 3mo agoi wont even dual boot windows on my linux machine, dont trust them not to vacuum up my linux drive data when i boot into windows. also just recently discovered their attempt to hijack the entire pc industry with secure boot, they are consistent gotta give them that. why do i have microsoft keys installed on my motherboard when im not even using windows.
- ThePowerOfFuet 3mo ago> dont trust them not to vacuum up my linux drive data when i boot into windows. LUKS
- yodon 3mo agoHow is this not a the mother of all GDPR violations?
- aniwalunj 3mo agoAt it again!
- ChrisArchitect 3mo agoDiscussions: Microsoft admits Windows 11 has a GDID tracker with no off switch https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48872561 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48872561 Full Writeup of the Windows GDID https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48811081 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48811081 Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48815196 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48815196
- hughw 3mo agoUser nashashmi [1]: So this kid uses his home computer at his home, and they trace him down with the IP address, and the IP address also makes a request for Windows Updates. And that narrows down the Device ID. The device id is now traced to this kid. That seems more likely, I hope, than Edge/Windows secretly telemetering your GDID and every URL you visit to Redmond. It's a huge privacy hole still, but they can plausibly deny they set out to track you across the web using their OS. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48815196#48818368 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48815196#48818368
- ndiddy 3mo agoThat could be how they initially associated the hacker with his GDID, but the criminal filing explicitly mentions that they were able to use Microsoft records to determine that his computer visited specific webpages: > According to Microsoft records, on or about May 12, 2025, at 19:21 UTC—when, according to ngrok records, the ngrok account was created—the device with the GDID accessed, among other ngrok pages, “https://dashboard.ngrok.com/signup https://dashboard.ngrok.com/signup,” the ngrok page to set up an ngrok account. > Microsoft records also indicate: (1) the user of the device assigned the GDID accessed multiple sites from Tzulo servers in May 2025, including the .168 server (the IP address used to create the ngrok account) on May 12, 2025; and (2) the user of the device assigned the GDID, on May 12, 2025 at 22:47 UTC, a little more than three hours after the ngrok account was created, the user visited “[Company F].com” from the .168 proxy server.
- dormento 3mo ago> they can plausibly deny they set out to track you across the web using their OS Only the first time this happens, before it becomes clear to everyone that such mechanism can be used for tracking. After that... well I have this bridge I've been meaning to sell.
- peter_stokes 3mo agothe criminal complaint: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/media/1450651/dl?inline https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/media/1450651/dl?inline page 18 answers many of the questions in this thread.
- orev 3mo agoThey say this is also sent with Windows Update checks, which happen frequently per day, and I think also when you initially connect to a network, so that’s a clear way they could tie the ID back to any IP address you’re using.
- noob_lord 3mo ago[dead]