Windows device tracking

Recently Microsoft admitted the existence of a Global Device Identifier, or GDID, in Windows (for more details click here). This means that, for any windows device which is logged in on a Microsoft account instead of a local account, Microsoft (and by extension the 5-eyes governmental surveillance network which both Microsoft and NZ are part of) can track your movements. For example, the FBI recently arrested Peter Stokes, a cybercriminal (though clearly not a very good one if he was using Windows), using the Microsoft GDID, by noting where he was accessing the internet from on his laptop. And, you know, good for them, cybercriminals deserve to be caught - but does it feel right to you that Microsoft can know where you are at all times?

Microsoft can also use this data to build an advertising profile on you to be sold to third parties - ie. the same thing that Google does with your search results, map location visits, and email contents.

Here are the ways to avoid being tracked by Microsoft:

1. Use a 'local' account within Windows instead of a Microsoft account. Making the switch is easy. Installing Windows 11 requires a Microsoft account, but once installed, you can switch it over to a local. Although your device itself is still tracked, your personal identifier is not tied to it. You have to avoid using Microsoft Office or Onedrive as well, as both of these are tied to a Microsoft account upon installation.
2. Turn off "optional diagnostic data", "cloud content search" and "Advertising ID and personalized ads" in Windows Settings (you can search for these within Settings).
3. Use Linux instead. I've given Linux grief in the past, but I have to admit I find Kubuntu - one of the newer, more windows-like distributions of Linux - pretty good, stable and easy for newcomers to pick up and use, having installed it on a few clients machines so far. This is no good if you need windows-specific apps like Microsoft Office, but fine for everything else.
4. Alternatively you can install ChromeOS on virtually any device, essentially turning it into a Chromebook. This is useful as a highly-stable, simple operating system, however it does have the downside of being tracked by Google.
5. Use Firefox, Waterfox, Brave or Librewolf instead of the Microsoft Edge web browser. You could use Chrome, but then you're giving up being tracked by Microsoft for being tracked by Google.

- written entirely by Matt Bentley