babble encat
If you think the silence is awkward, just wait until I start talking.
You can reply to my posts, I don't get enough conversation on here :) (as of June 2026)
Profile picture: Calvin from the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes" drinking a soft drink, with the edited narration, "Calvin drinks the magic E and begins an incredible transformation!" From the /r/okbuddyrosalyn subreddit
Aidez-moi à apprendre le français, svp
Ayúdame a aprender español por favor
Microservices
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:
- Don't treat VPNs as a privacy panacea
- Use Linux if you can
- Use a local account if you must use Windows
- Use a private browsing window to keep your MS account walled off from your private stuff
- Use @torproject@mastodon.social which has strong security built in
- Use @librewolf@chaos.social for non-Tor uses (paying bills, etc)
- Don't log in to MS on your browser
- Use ad blockers (Tor and LibreWolf ship uBlock iirc)
@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
@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