Re: GUID for postgreSQL

From: Ron Mayer <rm_pg(at)cheapcomplexdevices(dot)com>
To: Dann Corbit <DCorbit(at)connx(dot)com>
Subject: Re: GUID for postgreSQL
Date: 2005-07-31 20:41:10
Message-ID: 42ED3766.5050103@cheapcomplexdevices.com
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Dann Corbit wrote:
> There is a "privacy hole" from using the MAC address. (Read it in the
> WIKI article someone else posted).
>
> Probably, it would be better to use a one way hash of the MAC address.
>

The chances of MAC addresses colliding (through some low-end network
card vendor's sloppy manufacturing process; or through the not
uncommon ability to edit your mac address) is surely much higher than
the chance of big random numbers colliding. Sure, you won't hurt
anything if you add the MAC address to your entropy sources when
generating a GUID; but thinking a MAC address is more unique than
the bits you'd get from any less human-error-prone source is
almost certainly wrong.

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