babble encat

Home fries implies work and third place fries

@jenbanim@mastodo.neoliber.al I'm speculating a little but this is the chain I imagine:

• He used a Microsoft account to log in to Windows (never do that), associating the GDID with his online MS account
• That either transfers to Edge directly, or he logged into his MS account on another browser
• When he visited the ngrok page, ngrok collaborates with the MS telemetry / advert network, so his browser pings MS with a cookie from his logged-in MS account
• The cookie is used to chain to the GDID

@jenbanim@mastodo.neoliber.al this is why we:

1. Don't treat VPNs as a privacy panacea
2. Use Linux if you can
3. Use a local account if you must use Windows
4. Use a private browsing window to keep your MS account walled off from your private stuff
5. Use @torproject@mastodon.social which has strong security built in
6. Use @librewolf@chaos.social for non-Tor uses (paying bills, etc)
7. Don't log in to MS on your browser
8. Use ad blockers (Tor and LibreWolf ship uBlock iirc)

@jenbanim@mastodo.neoliber.al like what I'm trying to say is, the GDID isn't actually the hinge.

Microsoft’s records showed that at that exact same minute, a Windows device carrying GDID g:6755467234350028 had visited the ngrok signup page.

That is! Ask yourself why Microsoft sees when you visit ngrok?

This is a Sybil attack on mankind. The corporations are colluding secretly. All surveillance is now mass surveillance

@jenbanim@mastodo.neoliber.al Get this in the press release too:

It's nefarious because:

• Lots of sites ping ad networks and allow them to track you all over the Internet
• He probably never even thought about his Microsoft account, and it's not obvious that visiting a non-Microsoft site can tell Microsoft (and Google, and Facebook) all about you, especially if you logged in to them before
• the GDID probably wouldn't even show up in the HTTP headers. If MS sees you, they know who you are