Privacy worries? Don't print in color

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: October 25, 2005 11:38:59 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] Privacy worries? Don't print in color



Dave,

It's also worth noting that it is technically possible to encode
similar information in black and white digital prints (or copies) as
well, using other steganographic encoding techniques.

Just for the record, as at least one media outlet noted last week,
I actually reported about coding in color copies in my
PRIVACY Forum all the way back in 1999 -- after getting a Xerox
technical product manager to finally admit to me that it was going on:
( http://www.vortex.com/privacy/priv.08.18 ,
  http://www.vortex.com/privacy/priv.08.19 ).

At the time, I suggested that these issues needed to be discussed
widely, but of course nobody really seemed to care.  In fact, many
people simply refused to believe that the whole issue was even real.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () eepi org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
  - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, EEPI
  - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com


 - - -



> From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
> Date: October 25, 2005 3:22:01 AM EDT
> To: undisclosed-recipient:;
> Subject: Privacy worries? Don't print in color
>
>
>
> Privacy worries? Don't print in color
>
> By Hiawatha Bray  |  October 24, 2005
>
> You've got to love black-and-white laser printers. You can get a good
> one for $150 or so, and each toner cartridge cranks out thousands of
> pages before you need a refill. Best of all, they don't spy on you.
>
> You can't say the same about color laser printers, as we learned last
> week. Actually, we should have learned it nearly a year ago. That's
> when PC World magazine reported that makers of color laser printers,
> in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, have programmed their
> machines to print tiny yellow dots on every printed document. These
> dots are almost invisible under normal conditions, but can be spotted
> by anyone with a magnifier and the right sort of lighting.
>
> ...


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