create ids that are statistically unlikely to be identical pns can be generated at the consumer 39 s home to create ids that serve as a pd id or device id or alternatively at a manufacturing location to create a unique pd or device id each manufacturer may register for a manufacturing id that is part of the pd or device id to increase statistical uniqueness a single device id may be equivalent to a corresponding pd id a group of devices forming the pd can be assigned a separate pd id not equal to any device id or equal to the id of a master or first device to create the pd a group of device ids can be registered in a database by the device owners to create the pd a group of devices can be linked to a pd via a statistically unique pd id the database can receive the pd id from the first device and provide the pd id to each subsequent device when registering or the database can provide the pd id to each registered device the pd id can be linked to all devices via encryption for example the devices in a pd can communicate with each other and share the pd id over a secure channel e g a channel that employs encryption to protect the pd id and digital signatures to authenticate the devices when necessary a device in a pd can request the pd id from.