Your laser printer has been spying on you...

[Steep]

Since the late 1990s - not much of a secret apparently but I'm wishing I knew before I printed off all those fake bank notes.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sit6zUQKpJc

 

[Ian D J]

So THAT'S why the yellow cartridge on my Epson printer is always the first to run out of ink.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Here is the list of printers https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots

Apparently some monochrome ones are also "affected".

I'm sure it is no worse than tracking of online activities though, just don't send ransom notes or secret files from your own purchased printer.

 

[Cobra]

Unbelievable

 

[Gremlin]

So THAT'S why the yellow cartridge on my Epson printer is always the first to run out of ink.

If your printer uses the the ones with the picture of the fox, Frodo passed away last week

 

[neil_g]

I believe it only consists of printer serial date and time. Location or anything else would be too unreliable.

Anyway most modern printers won't let you print any copies of bank notes. Its coded into the firmware to wreck the image.

 

[Cobra]

I believe it only consists of printer serial date and time. Location or anything else would be too unreliable.

That's what the guy was saying, but *they can if they are so inclined check the serial number to see who bought that printer.
I do wonder if *they really could be arsed to do it though.

*they assuming the security services.

 

[neil_g]

If it was registered, not resold etc.

All seems a bit too unreliable to me.

 

[Steep]

More likely of use to check if a particular printout had come from a certain printer.

 

[Cobra]

If it was registered, not resold etc.

All seems a bit too unreliable to me.

Agreed, but,
I'm covering mine in tin foil none the less I'm not taking any chances, even though its not "apparently" covered by any of those listed

 

[neil_g]

More likely of use to check if a particular printout had come from a certain printer.

But again how do you tie a person to a printer when the hardware can easily be resold.

Who counterfeits money on a laser anyway the print is completely different. Our design spec units at work don't have the dots either (but they do have the firmware feature I mentioned earlier).

 

[Cobra]

But again how do you tie a person to a printer when the hardware can easily be resold.

I guess if men in black suits turned up wearing Glock's and asking where the printer is, or who owns it, I think you would tell them

 

[dejongj]

Just put in the paper upside down.

 

[Major Eazy]

Rather pointless as there are too many drawbacks with this idea:

You need special paper to make money, not plain paper.
What if you bought the machine second-hand?
If you paid for it by cash and take it home, without the shop recording which of the models you bought?
Serial number may be fine, but machine's clock could be set up wrong.​

And so on, and so on.

Also, even if the yellow dots are hardly noticeable to the naked eye, surely it still ruin your artwork or photographs? Say you printed some graphic design stuff for a client, but the client is not happy having found out that there are yellow dots on it?

 

[Steep]

It's not about tracing who buys a printer, it's about being able to prove that a specific printer was used to print whatever. There are many other ways to use a printer for nefarious purposes without trying to print cash on one.