Is your computer printer spying on you?
"Yes, it's true. In an effort to snare counterfeiters, the US government has persuaded some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has recently proven what many have suspected for a long time - that at least some laser printers embed a secret machine identification code on every page they print, which reveals when the page was printed, and the serial number of the printer on which it was printed.
"You might might not think it's a big deal that your printer's serial number is embedded on every page. But if you registered your printer with the manufacturer when you bought it, the manufacturer knows that you are associated with that printer's serial number ..."
Source: Ask Bob Rankin with a dip of me lid to Di Schuetz.
Categories: surveillance, privacy, technology, computer
Pip Wilson posted item above at 11:06 PM | Permalink
2 Comments:
I see that the US government has encouraged it to try and catch counterfeiters. This may identify the machine used for counterfeiting but I imagine any skilled counterfeiter would be long gone. I see this as just the tip of the iceberg as to the reasons for this spying though.
Xerox has been sprung but no doubt "big Brother" will be watching too :-)
I plan to just use my home printer sparingly for stuff like work directions, internet coupons, tutorials I find really useful, etc. And then when I run low on resumes, I'll print them out as I need 'em.
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