Secret tracking codes in Xerox printers cracked

[Teutatis]

Secret tracking codes in Xerox printers cracked
October 18, 2005 10:55 AM PDT

When last we wrote about the Electronic Frontier Foundation's attempts to decipher the hidden watermarks in color laser printers, the group had identified that some miniscule yellow tracking dots appeared under blue light.

Now the intrepid civil liberties group says it has cracked the tracking codes used in Xerox printers. (Other codes appear in printouts from machines by manufacturers such as Canon, Epson, HP, and Lexmark.)

While no law appears to require the manufacturers to embed the hidden dots -- which encode the printer's serial number and time and date information -- they nevertheless do it voluntarily as a way to help the Secret Service reduce counterfeiting.

In a Xerox DocuColor printout, for instance, a rectangular grid of 15 by 8 tracking dots are printed on every color page. Blue light and a magnifying glass makes them visible. EFF has even made source code of a Xerox decoding program available.

It's one thing to detect counterfeit dollar bills. But the hidden dots may erode Americans' right to anonymity by making it more difficult to print out political or religious pamphlets anonymously.

"It shows how the government and private industry make backroom deals to weaken our privacy by compromising everyday equipment like printers," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. "The logical next question is: what other deals have been or are being made to ensure that our technology rats on us?"

That's a very good question. Adobe does a similar thing in Photoshop CS, for instance.
Posted by Declan McCullagh

http://news.com.com/2061-10789_3-5899905.html

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[lumis]

if you were a "professional counterfeiter" who happened to use a xerox printer.. what if you just went to wal-mart or some other electronics store and just paid cash for the equipment? how would they track you down?

you could even go out of state to purchase the equipment to throw the secret service off track as to the whereabouts of your location..

i once made some quick counterfeits of some $20 bills and passed them on to my friends.. but i told them as soon as they pocketed them.. they were pretty impressed.. and it was actually pretty easy.. i just used my hp all-in-one unit, made a color copy of both sides of the bill, used a pair of scissors to cut them out and use glue to put them together.. then i crumpled them up and put a very light smattering of glue over it and rubbed it in..

(p.s.- i destroyed the bills and never even attempted to pass them at a retail outlet).

[GullyFoyle]

Here is what I don't get people get all out of joint when tracking tags are proposed for gunpowder, but they don't care when tracking codes are in printers or cell phones or RFID merchandise?

[GullyFoyle]

if you were a "professional counterfeiter" who happened to use a xerox printer.. what if you just went to wal-mart or some other electronics store and just paid cash for the equipment? how would they track you down?

you could even go out of state to purchase the equipment to throw the secret service off track as to the whereabouts of your location..

i once made some quick counterfeits of some $20 bills and passed them on to my friends.. but i told them as soon as they pocketed them.. they were pretty impressed.. and it was actually pretty easy.. i just used my hp all-in-one unit, made a color copy of both sides of the bill, used a pair of scissors to cut them out and use glue to put them together.. then i crumpled them up and put a very light smattering of glue over it and rubbed it in..

(p.s.- i destroyed the bills and never even attempted to pass them at a retail outlet).

There was an artists who made counterfeit bills as art. Which made him the subject of attention for a tad.
But it also brought on this philosophic discussion about the nature of our symbols and the meaning thereof.
Is it art? Is it counterfeit? if he spends it is it money? Which concept is more "real"?

[MackemX]

in a few years they will put chip implants into babies that know what you are doing and where . That's if they ain't already doing it

[Teutatis]

This is actually the first time I heard of this. And I thought that all those letters I sent to Cary Sherman and Jack Valenti, not to mention Bill Gates, telling them to go f**k themselves were anonymous! Oh, and that letter I sent to the government...... This explains the van parked in front of my house right now.

[enstg8er]

if you were a "professional counterfeiter" who happened to use a xerox printer.. what if you just went to wal-mart or some other electronics store and just paid cash for the equipment? how would they track you down?

it works just like bullet ballistics. they first catch you, then they match the evidence to property in your possession.

once they have the bills they determine the code and check to see if it matches your printer.

Here is what I don't get people get all out of joint when tracking tags are proposed for gunpowder, but they don't care when tracking codes are in printers or cell phones or RFID merchandise?

works both ways. many who disapprove of tracking cell phones remain silent about powder tracking.

similar to taxes. people only object to tax increases when it's their wallet being targeted.......