Advocates crack printer identifier code
October 19, 2005A privacy group says it cracked the code used by color printers to leave an identifying watermark on documents that can be traced by the U.S. government.
Cyber sleuths at San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation announced this week that the virtually invisible lines of tiny yellow dots laid down on a page identify not only the individual printer but the date and time the document was printed.
The tracking system was devised to allow the Secret Service to track down currency counterfeiters; however, the foundation warned that the technology could be used as well to identify users who print flyers or other documents critical of the government.
"Even worse," said EFF Attorney Lee Tien, "it shows how the government and private industry make backroom deals to weaken our privacy. The logical next question is: what other deals have been or are being made to ensure that our technology rats on us?"
The foundation said it had only unraveled the code on the Xerox DocuColor printer but knows it exists on machines from other manufacturers.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
-
While you're up, print me a solar cell (w/ video)
Jul 11, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (17) |
5
-
Ambient electromagnetic energy harnessed for small electronic devices
Jul 07, 2011 |
5 / 5 (9) |
14
-
Solution to beading-saliva mystery has practical purposes
Jun 09, 2010 |
4 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Could Printers Produce Human Tissue?
Apr 19, 2010 |
4.9 / 5 (9) |
2
-
Junking old electronic equipment does not compute
Jul 31, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (30) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
More news stories
Soraa LED light may dim 50-watt halogen rivals
(PhysOrg.com) -- Soraa, a Fremont, California company founded in 2008, this week launched its first product, a light that uses LEDS (light emitting diodes). The "Soraa LED MR16 lamp" is the "perfect" replacement ...
22 hours ago |
4.3 / 5 (18) |
18
|
Samsung can continue selling Galaxy tabs in Germany: court
South Korea's Samsung Electronics can continue to sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1N tablet computer in Germany, a German court ruled Thursday, rejecting a bid by arch-rival Apple to have them banned.
20 hours ago |
4 / 5 (4) |
3
Digital photos could put kids at risk
A study published in the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics this month suggests that parents and carers could be putting children at risk if they upload digital photos that are automatically "geota ...
16 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
3
Google launches Chrome browser for Android smartphones
With more and more people connecting to the Internet through a phone or a tablet instead of a PC, Google Inc. is bringing its fast-growing browser, Chrome, to the newest Android-powered mobile devices.
19 hours ago |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
Model analyzes shape-memory alloys for use in earthquake-resistant structures
Recent earthquake damage has exposed the vulnerability of existing structures to strong ground movement. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, researchers are analyzing shape-memory alloys for their potential ...
17 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
'Dark plasmons' transmit energy
Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via "dark plasmons," according to researchers at Rice University.
FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice
Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...
Hydrogen from acidic water: Researchers develop potential low cost alternative to platinum for splitting water
A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley ...
Ultraviolet protection molecule in plants yields its secrets
Lying around in the sun all day is hazardous not just for humans but also for plants, which have no means of escape. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can damage proteins and DNA inside cells, leading ...
Anyone can learn to be more inventive, cognitive researcher says
There will always be a wild and unpredictable quality to creativity and invention, says Anthony McCaffrey, a cognitive psychology researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, because an "Aha moment" is rare and ...
Engineers find inspiration for new materials in Piranha-proof armor
(PhysOrg.com) -- It’s a matchup worthy of a late-night cable movie: put a school of starving piranha and a 300-pound fish together, and who comes out the winner?
