Re: Government Uses Color Laser Printers to Track Documents.

[Chris Umphress <umphress () gmail com>]

> Next time you make a printout from your color laser printer,
> shine an LED flashlight beam on it and examine it closely
> with a magnifying glass. You might be able to see the small,
> scattered yellow dots printed there that could be used to
> trace the document back to you.

So they're using my yellow toner and expecting me to be happy about
it? Is it tax deductable? ;)

> Lorelei Pagano, a counterfeiting specialist with the U.S.
> Secret Service, stresses that the government uses the
> embedded serial numbers only when alerted to a forgery. "The
> only time any information is gained from these documents is
> purely in [the case of] a criminal act," she says.

This is like the semi-recent OnStar issue, right?

> John Morris, a lawyer for The Center for Democracy and
> Technology , says, "That type of assurance doesn't really
> assure me at all, unless there's some type of statute." He
> adds, "At a bare minimum, there needs to be a notice to
> consumers."

Absolutely. A "you're being tracked, have a good day" would be nice.

> Crean describes the device as a chip located "way in the
> machine, right near the laser" that embeds the dots when the
> document "is about 20 billionths of a second" from printing.
>
> "Standard mischief won't get you around it," Crean adds.

I have to wonder how long it will take modding sites to pick this up.
 
> Neither Crean nor Pagano has an estimate of how many laser
> printers, copiers, and multifunction devices track
> documents, but they say that the practice is commonplace
> among major printer companies.

This sounds a lot like "But everyone does it!" That never worked for me.

> Unlike ink jet printers, laser printers, fax machines, and
> copiers fire a laser through a mirror and series of lenses
> to embed the document or image on a page. Such devices range
> from a little over $100 to more than $1000, and are designed
> for both home and office.

Black-only laser printers are down as low as $100. Color is still
$500+, just clearifying.

> Crean says Xerox pioneered this technology about 20 years
> ago, to assuage fears that their color copiers could easily
> be used to counterfeit bills.

It can be done with inkjet printers now.

Anyhow, my $0.02. I probably won't be buying a new (or old) color
laser printer in the near future.

Chris

-- 
Chris Umphress <http://daga.dyndns.org/>

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