GDID Windows – Cut the tracker that follows you even under VPN | Hacker News

A Hacker News thread argued that Microsoft-linked identifiers, especially GDID, can connect a device’s activity across sites and services even when the user is behind a VPN.

The discussion cited an ngrok-related investigation as an example of how Windows device identifiers can be used for identity stitching across accounts and services.

It suggests that VPNs may hide network location, but persistent Windows identifiers can still help correlate user behavior.

The thread renewed privacy concerns about Windows telemetry and device-level tracking.