Warning: Your printer could be spying on you
Fiction TV is part of our daily lives sometimes we think that some things could just be good series episodes. In this case our warning is real, YES your printer could be spying on you for reals.
We know for a fact that for years now manufacturers have placed coded messages with in your printer that are hidden within the text. Some color laser printers and color copiers are designed to print invisible tracking codes across every single printed page of their output. These codes reveal which machine produced a document and, in some cases, when the document was printed or copied. In order to be able to see the tracking dots you need a blue light, or a microscope or you can also see it with a scanner.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been studying this phenomenon and stated: “The ACLU recently issued a report revealing that the FBI has amassed more than 1,100 pages of documents on the organization since 2001, as well as documents concerning other non-violent groups, including Greenpeace and United for Peace and Justice. In the current political climate, it's not hard to imagine the government using the ability to determine who may have printed what document for purposes other than identifying counterfeiters.”
We should not be alarmed we use our printers for “good” purposes but the question is why isn’t stated in the printers’ manual? Or why we weren’t informed of when we purchased the printer? Is there anyone regulating this kind of spying? We should be able to decide whether we want this code or not.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is currently gathering information and has reviewed several printers and found that several but not all HP printers have the code, from Brother they reviewed only two printers and both have the code, the only printer manufacturer that didn’t have the code included in their printers was Okidata. (Full Report)
We wanted you to be aware!
Check out a Youtube video that EFF has done to explain
Posted by Karla Arostegui - Content Mgr. at 7/7/2009 9:38 AM 
Categories: Ink and Toner Cartridges:Printing Tips and Crafts
Tags: HP Laser Printer secrets Brother warning Okidata images
Categories: Ink and Toner Cartridges:Printing Tips and Crafts
Tags: HP Laser Printer secrets Brother warning Okidata images
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