On Tue Oct 17 13:41:33 2023 +0000, Hans Leidekker wrote:
for the very same reason that /sys/class/dmi/id/board_serial,
chassis_serial, product_serial and product_uuid are not readable by user
exposing directly /etc/machine-id is hence a major privacy concern
Note: Windows expose these HW id:s without constraints whereas Linux
puts some limitations. Right, and macOS also exposes a hardware ID. Windows/Mac applications should be equally careful with that information. I don't think exposing /etc/machine-id is at the same level though. It's not a hardware ID and you can change it. If privacy is a concern when running Windows applications an alternative would be to sandbox Wine and give it its own machine ID.
IMO there's no difference in privacy concerns between hardware ID and software ones (some BIOS:es allow you to change the HW id, so the boundary between HW or not is also not that clear). The point is what they identify.
what are your concerns about following systemd recommandations?