What is Win32_OperatingSystem SerialNumber and is it considered sensitive information?

Question

I'm trying to find a way to uniquely identify PCs and thought the .SerialNumber from Win32_OperatingSystem would meet my needs. But I don't want to upset anyone by collecting something that might be considered sensitive information.

So what is Win32_OperatingSystem.SerialNumber used for, but more importantly is it considered sensitive; as far as I can tell it's not a product key or anything like that?

Set objWMI = GetObject("WinMgmts:")
Set props = objWMI.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem")
    For Each prop In props
        systemSpecs = prop.Caption
    Next prop

user_3451115 · Answer

Found an answer here: difference between product key and serial number

In a nutshell (which is all I need):

Serial Number is like a Name
Product Key is like a Password

What is Win32_OperatingSystem SerialNumber and is it considered sensitive information?

1 Answers