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?
So begins an article on the EFF website. It makes for some interesting reading. I’ve heard about this a few times in the past, so I guess I wasn’t caught completely off-guard. As with most measures that may aid law enforcement to track down the “bad guys”, this too could be a breach of your right to privacy.
I can’t really disagree with EFF, but it seems to me that something like IP-address tracking, combined with a side-by-side comparison of ISP logs, is a far greater invasion of my right to privacy.
More reading:
EU: Printer Tracking Dots May Violate Human Rights
List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots
Wikipedia: Printer steganography
Seeing Yellow
(Printer Icon from iconaholic.com)