Most of us understand that companies track our activities around the web. They’d love to track our activities in the real world too, if we let them. But what we don’t expect is our operating systems to track us, and for the companies that make those operating systems to provide that information to law enforcement (or anyone else, for that matter). Which is why this week’s news that your Windows PC has a unique “Global Device ID” that Microsoft can use for, well, whatever it wants, took many people by surprise. The reveal came as part of a story about Microsoft helping law enforcement find and arrest a 19-year-old hacker who was part of the Scattered Spider hacking group, which has been responsible for several high-profile attacks. Putting that aside, learning how closely Microsoft can keep tabs on your Windows PC is a bit unnerving, especially since there’s no way to opt out of the tracking. Make no mistake, the unique device ID part isn’t the unusual thing. Your PC has many unique identifiers at the software and hardware levels that, if obtained, could link you to it. What’s unusual is that Microsoft was able to obtain fairly detailed information about what the teenage hacker was doing on his PC, such as the websites he visited, and provided it to law enforcement when they asked for it. The fact that Microsoft could connect a user's device ID to their activity, and that any ID can be associated with third-party actions and their timings, even led one security researcher to claim that Windows itself is surveillance software. Add this to the news that Windows’ market share has been dropping for the first time, and it’s not a great look for the company overall. In other worrisome news, if you own a