Slog - Comments on Your Printer? Well, It's Watching You. And I Told You So.

Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:29:23 -0800

Sorry, Adrian, we stopped listening to you years ago.

Comment by Ziggity

Ziggity — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:29:33 -0800

You should change your name to Cassandra.

Comment by E

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:31:22 -0800

Don't buy the yellow toner!

Comment by Non

Non — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:36:18 -0800

To quote somebody from the post ONE YEAR AGO

"This has been out for a while. Note the Washington Post article from 2005"

Comment by Mike

Mike — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:40:39 -0800

Yeah, this has been known for a long time. From 2004:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/118664/government_uses_color_laser_printer_technology_to_track_documents.html

Comment by keshmeshi

keshmeshi — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:41:59 -0800

Damn. Now I'll have to find another way to print my counterfeit bills.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:47:00 -0800

Another good reason not to turn in manufacturer registration slips or register software, I suppose.

Comment by UNPAID BLOGGER

UNPAID BLOGGER — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:47:23 -0800

Speaking of counterfeiting, ever tried to open a document in Photoshop with even a small portion of any US paper currency displayed? Photoshop freaks out and won't let you print.

And now you know.

Comment by COMTE

COMTE — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:56:25 -0800

And of course, ink jet printers are completely unaffected by this, correct?

Comment by rb

rb — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:00:27 -0800

This is why is still use cut-out letters from magazines to send anonymous threatening letters.

Comment by King Rat

King Rat — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:12:24 -0800

you may have aid it one year ago, but i heard it from schneier and the eff and several other places 3 years ago.

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/10/secret_forensic.html

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:26:21 -0800

What Napoleon said. They couldn't identify you if you didn't register the printer/software and paid cash for the printer (and even that might not be necessary).

Comment by K

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:26:59 -0800

Which will usher in a world with printouts lacking red, orange, yellow, or green, as civil libertarians and privacy advocates cover their empty yellow ink cartridges with duct tape.

And usher in a niche market for fake yellow cartridges that fake a "full" status to the printer.

Shit, I shoulda kept that one to myself.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:37:36 -0800

@8, I just opened a pretty high-res picture of a $1 bill from Wikimedia Commons in Photoshop CS2 and printed it, and it worked fine.

Comment by Sirkowski

Sirkowski — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:42:38 -0800

Only a sucker would buy a color printer anyway. The cost of the inks, OY!

Comment by N

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:47:54 -0800

@14 It seems to be primarily $20 bills that photoshop has a problem with. See: http://www.creativetechs.com/iq/how_to_use_scanned_money_in_adobe_photoshop.html

Comment by elswinger

elswinger — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:48:59 -0800

Are you afraid your ransom note or fake $20s will be traced back to you?

Comment by Truth

Truth — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:13:42 -0800

Typewriters have had that serial number printing system forever. I don't see how this is anything really important or new.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:58:48 -0800

Your printer's been spying on you since the late 80s, actually.

All chipsets in printers are designed so they can be taken over by the NSA.

We used them to disrupt networks and gather intel during the first Gulf War, FWIW.

Comment by Judah

Judah — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:49:52 -0800

For most people, most of the time, this sort of thing doesn't matter. But if you ever find yourself in a situation where it does matter, this problem is fairly easy to work around:

1. Print letter.

2. Go to public library, or someplace else with a copy machine you can use without being observed.

3. Place sheet of clear plastic wrap over letter and make one copy on library copier.

4. Make copy of copy, using plastic wrap filter. Repeat until 4th generation.

5. Handle final copy with gloves.

That's pretty much Espionage 101, up there with, "Only write on single sheets of paper, on hard surfaces."

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:53:57 -0800

All chipsets in printers are designed so they can be taken over by the NSA.
We used them to disrupt networks and gather intel during the first Gulf War, FWIW.

That crack is a little stronger than you're used to, Will.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:28:50 -0800

@21 - you mean you didn't know that? It's a requirement, actually.

Comment by gnossos

gnossos — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:21:48 -0800

Oh Will, you credulous hack. Your myth is just a variation on this famous April Fool's joke:

http://www.vmyths.com/hmul/7/3/

What's that old saying? It's not what you don't know that that's scary, it's what you think you know that just ain't so that is truly frightening.