What are your thoughts on the GDID identifier in windows?

kelper said:

So, if a hacker creates a VM to do his dirty deeds and then deletes the VM, he won't be trackable as the GDID will be different every time.

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if you use the VM for things, it will be the VM that leaves traces online with its digital fingerprint etc etc.
Your host machine if that is a windows box too.. it will still leak information (sends it's telemetry) but it will not be connected to the website you visit with the VM. but you still have the IP that will be the same on the host and the VM.. so 1+1=2 with the overall metadata combined.

Marie SWE said:

if you use the VM for things, it will be the VM that leaves traces online with its digital fingerprint etc etc.
Your host machine if that is a windows box too.. it will still leak information (sends it's telemetry) but it will not be connected to the website you visit with the VM. but you still have the IP that will be the same on the host and the VM.. so 1+1=2 with the overall metadata combined.

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Yes but if you use a once only VPN? That is what I asked.

glasskuter said:

@Marie SWE Here's the way I look at it. In 36 short years the powers that be (W3C) worked and succeeded to get the WWW in control of the world and people let them; allthewhile loving everything about the shiney new object and we wanted more of it. The W3C kept giving us more, bit by bit gaining more and more control.

Now little guys cry foul. "We want this part of it, but not that part." Well, that's not the way it works. While it's admirable for one to have a cause he is passionate about and will fight for, some things are lost causes in the grand scheme of things. I'm a hard realist. I believe for every step forward in this fight there will always be 3 steps back because the odds are, and have always been, stacked. But maybe a WWW miracle will happen because that's what it would take now for the entire world to have 100% privacy/anonymity online.

If one wants to see what real power looks like, all one needs to do is look at the 330 members of the W3C. Yes, there are some smaller players there, but ALL the big boys are on the list so common sense tells which of the 330 members has the most influence to suit their own purposes.

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I make a quote as it was a few posts between
I'm a realist too.. but i also think some things is worth fighting for.. freedom of speech, and the right to chose privacy or not. That should be up to the person if they want to share data or if they dont want to. The right to chose so to speak.
Then also if no one objects.. big tech will just continue on the data collecting and include more and more and more over time.. as if no one objects, then its okay.

Everything have two sides.. yes catching bad guys is important.. but you dont use mass surveillance to catch 3% that is criminals.. Then we have China society globally within a decade.
How did the police hunt down criminals before the mass-collection... wiretaps etc.. surveil those who are suspects instead of everyone all the time.
and Google, microsoft, apple etc is not the police, so why should they collect our data............
The police has a lot of good tools.. its just that with FISA, Cloud act, Databrokers.. the only difference is that the police in US dont need a warrant from a court judge do go thru your data and also get your GPS history from Google vault.

So what i fight for is that Sweden isn't going to become as you have it over there, as you is only five steps from becoming as China according to Ludlow institute Ludlow Institute | Protect Privacy, Embrace Innovation and others that fights for the right to privacy in US. Its scary what happening over there.

I have a feeling my post will get delated in a few. But so be it... freedom of speech.

kelper said:

Yes but if you use a once only VPN? That is what I asked.

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i didn't see VPN in the question. But if you want to learn about VPN networking you should look up David Bombal on youtube. He is CCNA and a ton more certifications and explains VPN whats it does and what it doesn't do and how to use it.

Marie SWE said:

i didn't see VPN in the question. But if you want to learn about VPN networking you should look up David Bombal on youtube. He is CCNA and a ton more certifications and explains VPN whats it does and what it doesn't do and how to use it.

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Typo, I meant VM. Ok, I'm very familiar with VPNs.

kelper said:

Typo, I meant VM. Ok, I'm very familiar with VPNs.

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its still a lot of dots.... Metadata is a total topic of its own.. it has hundreds of different "data points" and it is how you can add them together that is the big picture treat to privacy if you are a whistleblower or a journalist in a hostile country or you live under a real threat with protected identity etc.

People say they are not bothered as they have nothing to hide. But if their house fronts onto the street where people walk past they will have blinds or net curtains!

kelper said:

People say they are not bothered as they have nothing to hide. But if their house fronts onto the street where people walk past they will have blinds or net curtains!

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Like most situations, I draw an analogy to the restroom/loo/water closet. I'm not doing anything illegal in there, but that doesn't mean I want everyone in there with me.

You can manage it but you can't turn it off because its buried deep within Windows and it interfaces with every service and account you use every day. There's no way to block it which you don't want to do, because you would brick Windows.

GDID is one of those things that makes your Windows and the PC it runs on exist with a clear identifier that gives it away in a way DNS addresses usually don't. You can spoof or conceal your DNS through a VPN but your GDID is a cold, known fact.

If that genuinely bothers you, don't run Windows.

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NormanF said:

You can manage it but you can't turn it off because its buried deep within Windows and it interfaces with every service and account you use every day. There's no way to block it which you don't want to do, because you would brick Windows.

GDID is one of those things that makes your Windows and the PC it runs on exist with a clear identifier that gives it away in a way DNS addresses usually don't. You can spoof or conceal your DNS through a VPN but your GDID is a cold, known fact.

If that genuinely bothers you, don't run Windows.

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I had to look as i earlier stated i dont worry as i have killed all telemetry.

And my windows install i use have not connected and got an GDID generated.

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