Most Printers Secretly Add Their Serial # to Everything They Print (opens in new tab)

(eff.org)

39 pointsDannyDover16y ago13 comments

13 comments

13 comments · 10 top-level

Note: As of October 13th, 2005, some information in this paper may be out of date. Please visit http://eff.org/issues/printers for the most up-to-date information on this project

(in other words, be more careful with your titles relating to papers that are REALLY out of date)

jws16y ago

This only applies to color laser printers and color copiers. Your inkjet printer is just fine.

The wikipedia article on laser printers links to a nice sample on a 1cm ruler... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Printer_Stenography_Illust...

The part of this that I find most interesting is that these have been known since the 90s and in 2005 there was a flurry of interest as some of the schemes were decoded, but I have never seen an authoritative reason why they are there. Does some entity in the US government require them? By what legal mechanism? Are the printer manufacturers trying to avoid liability for manufacturing counterfeiting equipment?

slackenerny16y ago

Most qulity copiers won't xero you a banknote bill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation

KWD16y ago

Sensationalistic and bad title for this submission. It's not 'most printers', it's color laser printers. And that's not even going into it being a 4 year old article.

rglovejoy16y ago· 3 in thread

Even if the Secret Service can find the manufacturer and serial number info in a document, how can they match this information with the end user if he/she does not turn in a warranty card?

I can think of a couple of scenarios:

1) During the driver installation process, the serial number and the user info stored on the system is (edit: could be) sent to the manufacturer. This might be defeated by using an open OS and drivers. The user could also use the printer with a system that is never connected to the Net.

2) The Secret Service would be able to track the printer down to the store where it was purchased. The retailer would be able to supply credit/debit receipts, but what if the buyer pays for the printer with cash? The Secret Service would have to rely on the store's video surveillance system (who knows how long they keep these records?) or on eyewitness descriptions from the store clerks and cashiers (which may not be too reliable).

gojomo16y ago

Even without the ability to trace to an exact purchaser, to be able to correlate multiple documents to the same person, or use the printer as corroborating evidence after finding a suspect by other means, would be very valuable to law enforcement.

And unless the printer is only used for disfavored purposes, its other output is in circulation. Who's to say there's not a ad hoc registry maintained by paper samples culled from filed forms or even trash dumps and recycling bins. ("That serial number was never registered but it was sold from a retail store in Cleveland in 2002 and its printouts were seen in recycling flows in Maryland in 2006.")

eli16y ago

Uh, I think you're giving the government's tracking and cataloging abilities way too much credit. They have trouble keeping track of a list of terrorists.

It think it's for confirming that a particular printer made a particular note (and determining how many different printers are involved in counterfeiting). Nothing more.

mhjyfvguv16y ago

These aren't the $49 inkjets at best buy, these are large expensive leased units in government and large companies. So when somebody leaks something embarrasing you have a better chance of finding who did it. If you are investigating a company for tax it helps to know who/when/where that document was really created.

DannyDoverOP16y ago

With regards to the constructive criticism about the date of the article, thank you and I will keep that in mind next time.

I submitted this article because I genuinely thought it was interesting and wanted to share it with like minded tech savvy people. (My real life friends wouldn't really care about this :-p)

I chose to submit this page rather than the newer version ( http://eff.org/issues/printers ) because I found the image of the dots on this webpage very interesting. I figured if people were interested they could click the "For up-to-date" information link. I will save everyone a click next time.

tome16y ago

Do these "watermarks" survive a photocopying?

If not: print out one copy and photocopy from it as many as you need before destroying the original.

dan_the_welder16y ago

Wait, you mean that my yellow ink consumption is artificially high because of some serial numbering scheme secretly put on my printer?

Class action lawsuit anyone?

quizbiz16y ago

this should not be news

GeneralMaximus16y ago

Interesting article. I'm glad that the EFF tries to reasonably present its arguments and provides not only supporting evidence, but also does some work towards decrypting the information added to laser printouts.

Unlike, um, some people.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse