This is not good.
Discussion
Yeah screw that.
I was already NOT itching to run out and buy one.
Now I have actual reasons.
I'll stick to my old models.
That's really bad news. Now comes the part of some hidden script in the firmware which does something we don't want..
Any boards or pieces of hardware out there left without identifiers?
Oh shit
I think you plebs are a bit overreacting. It's completely normal to add traceability markers to assembled boards for QA reasons.
Otherwise you as a manufacturer wouldn't be able to identify production lot based errors or failures.
But it could be problematic if the ID is also coded in Firmware AND linked to a specific customer.
I like my boards like I like my flying objects - unidenitifiable
How is it different from serial numbers found on any hardware on the planet?
They do. Intel uses them to know about a chips warranty status for example.
Phones have IMEI, yet we all still use them. Operating systems initialize a unique number on every install, etc.
`vcgencmd otp_dump` will dump an RPi's otp registers, w/ entries 28 and 29 being the id and its ones-compliment. I don't know if the otp id is related to the etched id, but Im also not sure what the concern is.
Can someone enlighten me?
Cars also have unique numbers and we don't mind :)
Production in masses require traceability especially if something goes wrong, it's easier to recal and notify customers that our shit is broken 😄
I guess it’s not that much different than a MAC address on your network card
🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🙅🏽♂️
You just convinced me to not buy one.
20 years ago there was a huge kerfuffle about intel putting UUIDs into their processors, and now this...
Every computer (including all Pis) with an RJ45 port or WiFi or Bluetooth that's ever been made has a unique identifiable number too. It's called a MAC address.
That's normally not on the outside, nor on the packaging.
Novice question: it is only traceable this way if one buys it with a credit card, yeah? How else would authorities trace a specific Pi back to specific user based on an ID physically etched onto the board?
Why?
What are the concerns here? Curious to learn.
"Other fun stuff" yeah real fun.....
Uh… so a serial number? It’s not like its some kind of CPUID. Thats most likely to happen on proper computers with TPM and all that.
License-plate-based driving restrictions, which limit the number of days people are allowed to drive their vehicles in a city or metropolitan area, are based on the last digit of the vehicles' license plates.
Node-serial-based Bitcoin restrictions, which limit the number of days people are allowed to interact their nodes in the Bitcoin time chain or Lightning network, are based on the last digit of the node's serial number.
You can't identify the owner of the car based off of the license plate. The serial number of the Pi is also on the outside, on the packaging. That enables access to this information to a whole lot more people, and adds numerous ways of how this information can be linked back to you.
Definitely not something to brag about. Yuck.