Microsoft Confirms Windows Has a Global Device ID You Can't Turn Off (GDID)

Yahoo Tech ^ | Jul 22, 2026 | Jon Martindale

[dayglored]

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows has a previously unknown Global Device ID (GDID), a permanent, unique digital identifier assigned to Windows devices that can tie a user's actions to their device. This came to light when an alleged member of a notorious hacking group was caught at an airport after Microsoft handed over his GDID to the authorities.

Microsoft describes the GDID in a published complaint (via Windows Latest) as "a persistent, device-level identifier designed to uniquely identify an installation of a Windows operating system on a device, either a physical device (e.g., a mobile phone or laptop) or virtual machine, across certain Microsoft services and scenarios."

So when you first set up Windows, or register a new Windows device, Microsoft ties that installation's GDID to you. Anything that happens on that system can then be traced back to you, the individual. Privacy and security settings in Windows 11. Privacy and security settings in Windows 11.

You can't adjust this in Windows settings.Credit: Jon Martindale

Windows Latest discovered that this is generated at the server side, but is also stored locally. It can be found in the Windows registry under: "HKCU\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\IdentityCRL\\ExtendedProperties."

Although this number remains when you update Windows, it is updated if you reinstall Windows, assigning you a new GDID—though the original one may remain recorded as well.

[Dr. Sivana]

And yet my bank website and numerous others cannot recall me because I use Brave with ad blocking, forcing me to get an email, or worse, a text.

[z3n]

They will (and this is already being done, obviously) make creating microsoft accounts using burner emails more difficult because they will force you into two factor authentication, which means just signing in what that microsoft account and burner email address with a standard password wont be enough, and you'll have to "authenticate" using a phone number, microsoft authenticator app, or a second email address.

Since the first two options are spy friendly, including theoretical access to your location whenever you have your phone (yes, I know, an app and a phone number aren't supposed to give private party direct access to your location data) as well as knowing exactly who you are through your cellular services accounts, then you are stuck making a second burner. This will also become very problematic. Here is why:

I have two very old email addressses. One Yahoo and one Hotmail (now owned by Microsoft). These are technically not burner accounts and were made over 25 years ago. They both started requiring you to validate your identity in various ways (text, call or email) so I tied each account to the other email as the backup for validation emails. Then i started getting stuck because I couldn't log into either one of them. The first email account would say they sent an email to the second, but if I tried to log into the second to check the validation email, it would say they are emailing the first one.



Basically, they don't want you validating your identity with secondary emails. They try to force you to give up more personal information.

[Highest Authority]

I know almost nothing about computers, so I can’t follow any of the solutions here. So, is there a simple answer? Can I just buy a different brand, like Apple?

[z3n]

I guess it really boils down to how important privacy is to you.

I make efforts to protect my privacy, but that’s mostly only by educating myself and doing my due diligence when it doesn’t cost me too much time or money. I don’t go way above and beyond. I value privacy, but I’m not paranoid.

The number one thing I always do that I think helps more than anything else is always run my browsers in privacy mode. I personaly recommend firefox, but I’ve heard brave is good and proton came out with a browser too I think. Don’t use Edge!

I started doing this over 10 years ago, and do you know what never happens to me that happens to a lot of people?
I don’t see ads related to my previous searches. They are all very generic and tend to be more geographically related than anything else. But if I happen to get on other people’s computers, suddenly there are ads for hemorrhoid cream or lift bras or trailer hitches. heh.

Go into your browser’s settings and tell it to “Never remember my browsing history” and “clear my history when this browser closes”. It will do wonders.

[wastedyears]

Well it’s a good thing I’ve been using Linux for over 2 years now.