# Is your printer spying on you? **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [October 20, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/is-your-printer-spying-on-you/3597 "2005-10-20T06:41:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SilencingMachine](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/silencingmachine/32/7593_2.png) [@SilencingMachine](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/SilencingMachine)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/is-your-printer-spying-on-you/3597/1 "2005-10-20T06:41:33Z")
Saw this on torrentspy. A big (-1) for our privacy rights…:cjerk: [http://news.com.com/2061-10789\_3-5899905.html](http://news.com.com/2061-10789_3-5899905.html) > **Secret tracking codes in Xerox printers cracked** > > October 18, 2005 10:55 AM PDT > When last we wrote about the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s attempts to decipher the hidden watermarks in color laser printers, the group had [identified](http://news.com.com/2061-10789_3-5811739.html?tag=nl) that some miniscule yellow tracking dots appeared under blue light. > > Now the intrepid civil liberties group says it has cracked the tracking codes used in Xerox printers. (Other codes appear in printouts from machines by [manufacturers such as Canon, Epson, HP, and Lexmark](http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eff.org%2FPrivacy%2Fprinters%2Flist.php&siteId=3&oId=/2061-10789_3-5811739.html&ontId=10784&lop=nl.ex).) > > **While no law appears to require the manufacturers to embed the hidden dots – which encode the printer’s serial number and time and date information – they nevertheless do it voluntarily as a way to help the Secret Service reduce counterfeiting.** > > In a Xerox DocuColor printout, for instance, a rectangular grid of 15 by 8 tracking dots are printed on every color page. Blue light and a magnifying glass makes them visible. EFF has even [made source code](http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eff.org%2FPrivacy%2Fprinters%2Fdocucolor%2Findex.php%23program&siteId=3&oId=/2061-10789_3-5811739.html&ontId=10784&lop=nl.ex) of a Xerox decoding program available. > > It’s one thing to detect counterfeit dollar bills. But the hidden dots may erode Americans’ right to anonymity by making it more difficult to print out political or religious pamphlets anonymously. > > **“It shows how the government and private industry make backroom deals to weaken our privacy by compromising everyday equipment like printers,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. “The logical next question is: what other deals have been or are being made to ensure that our technology rats on us?”** > > That’s a very good question. Adobe [does a similar thing](http://news.com.com/Adobe%2C+others+slip+anticounterfeiting+code+into+apps/2100-1012_3-5138816.html?tag=nl) in Photoshop CS, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Locutus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/locutus/32/7574_2.png) [@Locutus](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Locutus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 6:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/is-your-printer-spying-on-you/3597/2 "2005-10-20T06:49:56Z")
old news nikkkuaaaa… at least for me 🙂 check out the news clip on the bottom of our website [http://www.pglewis.com/](http://www.pglewis.com/) the fox 5 one… ---
**Author:** ![Nikuk](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/nikuk/32/7254_2.png) [@Nikuk](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Nikuk)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/is-your-printer-spying-on-you/3597/3 "2005-10-20T06:51:18Z")
not new news. I work for a bank but no where near any cash or actual customers - if someone copie’s a Federal Reserve note of any denomination, a couple of sirens go off and security rushes up here to detain them. Seriously, happened ~10 months ago. Was an accident but still warranted investigation and a written warning from The Fed’s. Secret Service +1 ACLU -1 Thats not going to change. > **It shows how the government and private industry make backroom deals to weaken our privacy by compromising everyday equipment like printers," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. “The logical next question is: what other deals have been or are being made to ensure that our technology rats on us?”** Where do You think McAfee, Norton, and the rest of them get their programmers from? How do You think the governments of the world are able to catch & crack emails from the billions of bits flying through the internet everyday? Good of the globe \> Your privacy. ---
**Author:** ![PumiceT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@PumiceT](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/PumiceT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 6:54am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/is-your-printer-spying-on-you/3597/4 "2005-10-20T06:54:30Z")
:eek: The Konica Minolta we have at work is on the list. Good thing we stopped printing those counterfeit 20s. ---
**Author:** ![Jack](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jack/32/7613_2.png) [@Jack](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jack)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 7:09am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/is-your-printer-spying-on-you/3597/5 "2005-10-20T07:09:25Z")
I think Americans’ right to anonymity is blown way out of porportion… and if you wanna say something… fucking say it already ---
**Author:** ![Nikuk](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/nikuk/32/7254_2.png) [@Nikuk](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Nikuk)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 7:22am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/is-your-printer-spying-on-you/3597/6 "2005-10-20T07:22:19Z")
> [@Jack](#): > > I think Americans’ right to anonymity is blown way out of porportion… and if you wanna say something… fucking say it already AAAAAAA FUCKING MEEEEEEEEEEN. ACLU \< \*