Unique phone id's

disruptive · Dec 8, 2015

Hi,

I'm curious in the efforts of tracking users, whether, the id such as: 121d75f6-c096-4998-9fb7-f2764ae63663 can give away the type of phone. Like Android vs Apple?

Skinner · Dec 8, 2015

they are GUIDs and totally random, they have no real indication. In programming terms we use a GUID as random number which is unlikely to occur twice globally.
Google GUID for more info

sdsinc · Dec 8, 2015

The network interfaces have unique MAC addresses. So you could be tracked through wifi usage for example.
It depends in which context. The MAC address does not propagate beyond the router/LAN, so it's not available to the websites you visit.
On the other hand, the apps have local access to your device and can leak a lot of data to outside parties.

The leftmost portion of the MAC address is the 'manufacturer' prefix (that is, manufacturer of the network card chipset). If you have a PC, it would probably be Realtek or something, it doesn't tell a lot about the particular brand of your PC. For an Ipad the signature would be Apple. If you have a Samsung tablet, then the MAC will tell "Samsung Electronics Co.,Ltd" etc.

The browsers can also give some clues about the device.