Sleuths Crack Tracking Code Discovered in Color Printers

CanonFanatic · 20th October 2005

Seems many laser type printers print hidden and "invisible" information on the pages they print.

Those of you using laser printers might be interested.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...101801663.html

http://www.tgdaily.com/2005/10/19/ef...ots/print.html

http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/list.php

Neo · 20th October 2005

Hi,

Actually it's been reported a year ago, but it's not really that big an issue if we think about it. Everything we do leaves a digital trail, so why does it surprise people that the laser printers leave a tell-tale sign? Starting with the Pentium chip with ID coding, people were panaroid because it allows IP tracking of computers across the net. But even for digital cameras, every image comes with Exif data, every webpage has metatag, and even your Microsoft Word document has a metatag. It just takes someone who knows his stuff to dig deeper. And while we're paranoid about such details, we constantly throw away bank statements and credit card statements without shredding them, nor do we think twice about handing over credit cards to counter staff.

I'm concerned about invasion of privacy, but such trails are more common than we think. So long as it does not identify individuals (just product type), I think I can live with it. Afterall, if you watch CSI, you'd know that every fibre of our clothes or every tire mark our cars leave behind, is a trail for people to pick up upon. Just my two cents...

20th October 2005	#1
CanonFanatic Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 52	Sleuths Crack Tracking Code Discovered in Color Printers Seems many laser type printers print hidden and "invisible" information on the pages they print. Those of you using laser printers might be interested. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...101801663.html http://www.tgdaily.com/2005/10/19/ef...ots/print.html http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/list.php

20th October 2005	#2
Neo Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 947	Re: Sleuths Crack Tracking Code Discovered in Color Printers Hi, Actually it's been reported a year ago, but it's not really that big an issue if we think about it. Everything we do leaves a digital trail, so why does it surprise people that the laser printers leave a tell-tale sign? Starting with the Pentium chip with ID coding, people were panaroid because it allows IP tracking of computers across the net. But even for digital cameras, every image comes with Exif data, every webpage has metatag, and even your Microsoft Word document has a metatag. It just takes someone who knows his stuff to dig deeper. And while we're paranoid about such details, we constantly throw away bank statements and credit card statements without shredding them, nor do we think twice about handing over credit cards to counter staff. I'm concerned about invasion of privacy, but such trails are more common than we think. So long as it does not identify individuals (just product type), I think I can live with it. Afterall, if you watch CSI, you'd know that every fibre of our clothes or every tire mark our cars leave behind, is a trail for people to pick up upon. Just my two cents...