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07/31/2005 Archived Entry: "Your laser printer can be traced"

My thanks to reader A.M. who sends this item from last year, about how color laser printers can be tracked. Basically, every one prints a nearly-invisible "watermark" of yellow dots that encodes the serial number of the printer. So pages printed on that machine can be traced back to it. (You were a good citizen and sent in your warranty registration, yes?) If you need to print untraceable documents, best to use black & white inkjet...and maybe run it through an old-fashioned photocopier (not a multifunction printer!) a few times.

Just one more example of my repeated observation: Orwell Was Right, He Was Just Twenty Years Early.  —brad