Printer tracking dots - Revision history

Parchivist at 05:43, 29 October 2023

2023-10-29T05:43:14Z

Parchivist at 04:50, 29 October 2023

2023-10-29T04:50:55Z

Jsummers at 17:55, 15 June 2017

2017-06-15T17:55:33Z

Jsummers at 16:22, 15 June 2017

2017-06-15T16:22:21Z

Dan Tobias: Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=physical }} '''Printer tracking dots''' are rather secretive, but reputed to be inserted in printed documents on many current-day color printers, with..."

2017-06-13T12:40:24Z

Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=physical }} '''Printer tracking dots''' are rather secretive, but reputed to be inserted in printed documents on many current-day color printers, with..."

New page

{{FormatInfo
|formattype=physical
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'''Printer tracking dots''' are rather secretive, but reputed to be inserted in printed documents on many current-day color printers, with rumors of the existence of secret agreements between governments and printer manufacturers to ensure this "feature" is present on all major printer models. They are hard-to-see patterns of light-colored (usually yellow) dots that can, to knowledgeable observers, allow it to be determined when and by whom something was printed. It has been reported that this played a role in uncovering the government leaks of Reality Winner (yes, that's her real name) in 2017.

== Links ==
* [https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots (EFF)]
* [http://blog.erratasec.com/2017/06/how-intercept-outed-reality-winner.html How The Intercept Outed Reality Winner]
* [http://seeingyellow.com/ Seeing Yellow]

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 * [https://w2.eff.org/Privacy/printers/docucolor/ DocuColor Tracking Dot Decoding Guide]
 * [https://dfd.inf.tu-dresden.de/ DEDA - tracking Dots Extraction, Decoding and Anonymisation toolkit] ([https://github.com/dfd-tud/deda github])
 * [https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots (EFF)]
 * [http://blog.erratasec.com/2017/06/how-intercept-outed-reality-winner.html How The Intercept Outed Reality Winner]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 |formattype=physical
 }}
-'''Printer tracking dots''' are rather secretive, but are undeniably inserted in printed documents on many current-day color laser printers, with rumors of the existence of secret agreements between governments and printer manufacturers to ensure this "feature" is present on all major printer models. They are hard-to-see patterns of light-colored (usually yellow) dots that can, to knowledgeable observers, allow it to be determined when and by whom something was printed. It has been reported that this played a role in uncovering the government leaks of Reality Winner (yes, that's her real name) in 2017.
+'''Printer tracking dots''' (also '''Machine Identification Code (MIC)''', '''printer steganography''', '''yellow dots''', '''secret dots''') are rather secretive, but are undeniably inserted in printed documents on many current-day color laser printers, with rumors of the existence of secret agreements between governments and printer manufacturers to ensure this "feature" is present on all major printer models. They are hard-to-see patterns of light-colored (usually yellow) dots that can, to knowledgeable observers, allow it to be determined when and by whom something was printed. It has been reported that this played a role in uncovering the government leaks of Reality Winner (yes, that's her real name) in 2017.
 Rumor has it that printers are transitioning toward using [[steganography]] instead of tracking dots, so don't assume that just because your printer doesn't print these dots, it is not tracking you.
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 == Links ==
 * [https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots (EFF)]
 * [http://blog.erratasec.com/2017/06/how-intercept-outed-reality-winner.html How The Intercept Outed Reality Winner]
 * [http://seeingyellow.com/ Seeing Yellow]
 [[Category:Forensics and Law Enforcement]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 |formattype=physical
 }}
-'''Printer tracking dots''' are rather secretive, but reputed to be inserted in printed documents on many current-day color printers, with rumors of the existence of secret agreements between governments and printer manufacturers to ensure this "feature" is present on all major printer models. They are hard-to-see patterns of light-colored (usually yellow) dots that can, to knowledgeable observers, allow it to be determined when and by whom something was printed. It has been reported that this played a role in uncovering the government leaks of Reality Winner (yes, that's her real name) in 2017.
+'''Printer tracking dots''' are rather secretive, but are undeniably inserted in printed documents on many current-day color laser printers, with rumors of the existence of secret agreements between governments and printer manufacturers to ensure this "feature" is present on all major printer models. They are hard-to-see patterns of light-colored (usually yellow) dots that can, to knowledgeable observers, allow it to be determined when and by whom something was printed. It has been reported that this played a role in uncovering the government leaks of Reality Winner (yes, that's her real name) in 2017.
 Rumor has it that printers are transitioning toward using [[steganography]] instead of tracking dots, so don't assume that just because your printer doesn't print these dots, it is not tracking you.