Is Your Printer Spying On You?

[eridani]

Help EFF Watch the Watchers

Imagine that every time you printed a document, it automatically included a secret code that could be used to identify the printer - and potentially, the person who used it. Sounds like something from an episode of "Alias," right?

Unfortunately, the scenario isn't fictional. In an effort to identify counterfeiters, the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. That means that without your knowledge or consent, an act you assume is private could become public. A communication tool you're using in everyday life could become a tool for government surveillance. And what's worse, there are no laws to prevent abuse.

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.

Yet there are no laws to stop the Secret Service -or for that matter, any other governmental agency or private company - from using printer codes to secretly trace the origin of non-currency documents. We're unaware of any printer manufacturer that has a privacy policy that would protect you, and no law regulates what people can do with the information once it's turned over. And that doesn't even reach the issue of how such a privacy-invasive tool could be developed and implemented in printers without the public becoming aware of it in the first place.

With nothing on the books, we lack tools to stop the privacy and anonymity violations this technology enables. For this reason, EFF is gathering information about what printers are revealing and how - a necessary precursor to any legal challenge or new legislation to protect your privacy. And we could use your help.

In the preliminary research paper linked below, we explain what we've observed so far, briefly explore the privacy implications, and ask you to print and send us test sheets from your color laser printer and/or a color laser printer at your local print shop. That way, we can watch the watchers and ensure that your privacy isn't compromised in ways that harm your fundamental constitutional rights.

In addition to documenting what printers are revealing, EFF is filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and we will keep you updated on what we discover. In the meantime, we urge you to participate in this research project and pass the word along. Thank you for your support!

EFF paper: "Investigating Machine Identification Code Technology in Color Laser Printers": http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/wp.php

Directions for printing test sheets:
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/wp.php#testsheets

PC World: "Government Uses Color Laser Printer Technology to Track Documents": http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118664,00.asp

[Must_B_Free]

1. There are chips in some copiers that can tell if money is being printed

the machine will call the secret service and on the second print disable the machine.

[queeg]

2. then the secret camera in your monitor takes a picture

and sends it to fox news

just a recycle of a three year old slash-dot story

[Swamp Rat]

4. And alien lizards just stole your DNA for saying that.

:D

[Must_B_Free]

6. no my friend is a copier technician

he told me he's had to take out the chip to be given to the Secret Service. I didn't read it on slashdot.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Nice to see John Perry Barlow is on the case.

EFF does good work.

[formercia]

5. and they remotely turn on the microphone on your laptop

so they can hear the squishy noises while you watch pr0n.

[SoCalDem]

7. It's probably being 'sold' to businesses as a feature

to catch employees who are printing out Xmas letters to their family, or recipes, or whatever...on company time:)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

8. Perhaps someone can tell me why Adobe's PDF reader needs

to contact the internet EVERY TIME you view a document?? I mean... WFT??? If you don't have a firewall running... you will never know... ahhh the poor unaware masses.

[jim3775]

11. Don't use adobe acrobat

Use foxit PDF reader. Its smaller uses less memory takes a lot less time to start up and doesn't connect to the internet and it's free.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

[tocqueville]

9. Get a firewall and deny all internet access to spoolsv.exe

Zonelabs and others can monitor the programs coming out. If the program has no reason to access the internet, block it.

[queeg]

10. Year old Slashdot article.

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/14/1742224

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/2004/041011.Delp.forensics.html

[DanCa]

12. You know recently

I had a problem with my fax going on and off. Now am scared.