Activation is anonymous, and no personal information is required to activate. The installation ID records an association of the product ID to your computer and a confirmation is sent back to Microsoft. You can then use the product key to install Windows on that computer an unlimited number of times. However, if you want to install Windows on a different computer with that product key, you may have to contact a Microsoft customer service representative. but my own experience is that you can activate online 5 times and then you have to call