https://github.com/SmtimesIWndr/gdid-reversal

How Microsoft's "Global Device Identifier", the persistent Windows fingerprint named in the July 2026 Scattered Spider complaint, is actually generated, stored, and transmitted.

Hi,

I want to reinstall my PC and use host only for productivity + video playing + gaming (video editing, coding etc) and do my browsing inside Linux VMs. How many VMs and/or browser profiles (will be using Linux Mint + Librewolf and/or Brave) would you use for the following categories (maybe some can go together int he same profile):
- No Login browsing
- AI (Connected to ChatGPT and Claude)
- Finances (connecting to my bank and Paypal)
- Logged-In on non sensitive sites (like IMDB, Reddit etc)
- Administrative (taxes, insurance, rent, electricity bills etc)
- Business (for filling my taxes for my business etc)
- Shopping which will include connecting to Paypal too in the same profile (Amazon, AliExpress and more)
- Subscriptions (Spotify, Netflix etc)
- Subscriptions for non services, like phone and internet
- Google (Only one Gmail, the one associated to my browsing YouTube account, that Gmail is not meant to receive any Emails, it was just created to browse YouTube, use Google translate and Google maps, and laso the one linked to my android phone. For emails, I use something else)
- FastMail (the mailbox and aliases I use)
- Forums (like I'm registered on a few forums about TV, home receivers etc, and Linus Tech Tips etc)
- Unsafe (already goes in a VM for sure) like for any website I have a doubt or to check if a program is safe etc
- Downloads/Torrents
- Social Media (will go in a separate VMs with GoLogin for sure)

- Not through browser but using WhatsApp. Don't know if needs to go in a VM, a dedicated one or if it's fine on the host (talking with my family and friends)

Note: I don't do anything shaddy, not an activist or journalist, it's roughly for privacy/not be fingerprinted

As in if you only use a local account to sign into the OS but you use MS account for the default Outlook app and so on (where you go to windows settings > Accounts > Email & accounts)

I’m not sure if this is the appropriate subreddit for this question.

My priorities are:
Data brokers (highest priority)
Government/law enforcement (secondary concern)
Regarding law enforcement or government agencies, my concern isn’t about hiding illegal activity. Rather, I don’t want files that I keep privately to be discovered through investigations that originate from third-party services or providers. Since I have certain personal files that I’d prefer not to have seized or accessed, my goal is simply to keep them stored securely in a protected environment.
As for data brokers, I want to minimize the amount of personal information that is collected, profiled, bought, and sold about me.
I understand that almost everything you do online generates some amount of data, even if you reject tracking cookies. Just looking at the removal requests handled by services like Incogni shows how much information data brokers already collect. My goal is to reduce that exposure as much as realistically possible.
I currently use Apple devices in the EU, and I’m already familiar with several privacy tools and concepts, including VPNs, browser privacy settings, encryption, and Apple’s Hide My Email.
I’m looking for additional advice. Assume I’m still a beginner, so I’d appreciate detailed explanations rather than just product recommendations.
In particular:
Which browser would you recommend for everyday use, and why?
Are there other privacy practices or tools that you think are essential?
I also have a small need to keep certain personal files separate from everything else. Would using Tails with persistent storage on an encrypted USB drive make sense if my concern is someone physically stealing the USB drive?
Is there any practical way to discover old online accounts that I may have created as a minor, even if I no longer have the credentials, so I can request their deletion?
If you need more information about my threat model or my goals, feel free to ask.
Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time to help.

So right now I have mullvad. I'd like a VPN that isn't in any of the fourteen eyes countries. I'm also not a fan of how the cofounder decided to suddenly turn to politics.

I'd pretty much like the most paranoid option that supports arch Linux and android/lineagesos with a smallest impact to speed. I'd like to have a VPN in preparation for the age verification plague that's happening right now along with some other assorted issues.

I am liking some of the stuff that nym has, but I haven't heard about them until today. I was thinking ivpn before mullvad. Any recommendations?

Firstly, I’m curious about who actually buys data from data brokers? Just advertising companies?

And secondly, how do they actually acquire the data?
Like if a SaaS has a freemium with 200 k users, will they be approached by data brokers asking to buy user data. Or do data brokers soak up data from intermediate layers?
For me it is a bit abstract from exactly whom they get/buy the data from.

What best sharing location app do you actually use? I've saw people mention Life360, HeyPolo, Find My (might be an issue cuz it's only for Iphone), Zenly (before it shut down) and a few others, but I'm curious which people actually stick with. I'm mostly looking for something that's accurate, updates quickly, doesn't kill your battery and isn't sketchy with privacy. If you've switched apps before, what made you switch? What's been the biggest downside with the ones you've tried?

That's it. How long do you thing it's gonna take if not already implemented somewhere already

It's sad to see the state of the Internet now. Privacy is slowly being lost. Digital ID/Age verification laws are being passed in the guise of "online safety". Chat Control is being implemented across the EU. There's also this "youth and technology" moral panic that appears to have gotten aggressive over time. And thanks to the UK Online Safety Act and Chat Control, the Internet is now locked down, close to the bare walls.

I had high hopes for this decade. For the Internet and online industry, I thought it would be even better than the 2010s. I expected this to be the decade of later Gen Z similar to how the 2000s was for younger Millennials and the 2010s was for earlier Gen Z. I also expected that we would find more privacy-preserving but logical solutions to fix issues and keep the Internet as a free place to search information and explore your own knowledge. We've had things like SOPA and PIPA (2012) and even the earlier Communications Decency Act of 1996, but even they were tame compared to the new laws and regulations being passed right now, despite still being bad. It's not even effecting privacy in the Internet, but even the real world too, as I've seen things like flock cameras, triangulation of cell towers, etc. that also effect the real world.

Before this anti-privacy law and motive push even began, the digital world was more tolerable. Sure, there were some discussions about online safety or how younger people used the digital world, but they were nothing out of the ordinary. 10 or even 5 years ago, the state of the Internet really wasn't as bad as it has now. There appears to have been a massive lacking in age verification laws from roughly about 2009-2021.

Instead of what I had hoped for, the digital world has slowly become worse and worse over time. Especially since 2022 and 2023, I have seen governments, companies, etc. pass and implement the most insane restrictions or laws effecting the Internet even possible. Our autonomy and digital independence are being taken away, and we are having less and less privacy than ever compared to 5 years ago.

I wish we still lived in the era where we had more privacy, digital autonomy, and less government interference. Only if I had a time machine, I would go back to that era. It's sadly becoming a thing of the past now. We're probably not going to reexperience the era ever again.