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A little about me:

I have been on Steemit for a little under a month and I haven't used the introduce yourself tag to let others know who I am.

I am into all things tech related, from crypto currencies to retro gaming.

Feel free to follow if you like the below post.

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Secret Tracking added to your print outs?

It has recently come to light that many of the major printer manufacturers have been secretly adding a form of steganography to your print outs.

Steganography is the art of hiding data within other data.

The information provided includes the time and date the document was printed and the serial number of the printer.

Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_steganography

These yellow dots which have been magnified 60 times, were found on a Xerox printout

The below image shows the hidden yellow dots which are visible when illuminated under blue light.

Image from Electronic Frontier Foundation

These dots are then plotted against a grid which will reveal the hidden data (time, date and serial number of printer)

Image from Electronic Frontier Foundation

This technology has come back into the public eye after the NSA made public charges against a former employee for apparently leaking confidential documents.

It is believed by examining these leaked documents they could see exactly when and where they were printed and from what printer.

Doe's anyone see an issue with this? Should printer manufacturers make this information more widely known to it's users?

It seems nothing is untraceable in this modern world even when printed out.

If you think you are hiding your digital footprint by making a hard copy, then think again as it seems not even the physical world is safe.

Big brother is always watching 👀

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