Globally Unique Identifier

(goo-I-D)

A term used to describe a unique identification. It can be developed in a number of ways; most often a hash of several things that might be unique at any given point in time (e.g., an IP address or addresses plus the clock date/time or some other function perhaps based on a machine-specific ID number). GUIDs are used in different ways. Perhaps the most "famous" was the GUID Microsoft developed for Office documents and files and inserted into them without user knowledge. When discovered, privacy advocates objected and Microsoft released software to remove those GUIDs and says they won't be using them in the future (right).

More Information

• GUID Programming Example