diff --git a/server.node.ts b/server.node.ts
index e146a57..e6792f7 100644
--- a/server.node.ts
+++ b/server.node.ts
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ import {
   MessageType,
 } from "./lib/ServerMessage";
 
-const SALT = crypto.randomBytes(2048).toString("hex");
-
 const port = 8085;
 const timeout = 15000;
 
@@ -29,10 +27,6 @@ const webSocketServer = new WebSocketServer({ server: httpsServer });
 
 console.log("listening on port: " + port);
 
-function hash(str: string) {
-  return crypto.createHash("SHAKE256").update(str, "utf-8").digest("hex");
-}
-
 async function handleTextMessage(message: TextMessage, from: string) {
   for (const to of webSocketServer.clients) {
     to.send(
@@ -50,7 +44,6 @@ async function handleCloseConnection(id: string) {
 }
 
 const activeConnections = new Set<string>();
-let nextId = 0;
 
 webSocketServer.on("connection", function connection(socket) {
   const close = (reason: string, code: number = 1000) => {
@@ -65,12 +58,12 @@ webSocketServer.on("connection", function connection(socket) {
     handleCloseConnection(authorId);
   };
 
-  const authorId: string = hash(nextId++ + SALT);
+  const authorId: string = crypto.randomUUID();
 
   socket.on("message", function (rawMessage: string) {
     const message = JSON.parse(rawMessage);
     if (!isServerMessage(message)) {
-      console.error(`Unexpected message received from client \`${message}\``);
+      console.error(`Unexpected message received from client "${authorId}": \`${message}\``);
       return;
     }