Yes, your color printer is spying on you

[Arthur Entlich]

Do you think "Rod Speed" is this person's real name? If not, what is
he/she hiding? Obviously, the use of an alias is grounds alone for
suspicion, especially from someone who otherwise claims he/she has
nothing to hide...

I'm sure this person will have no problem if we use the tools available
to determine who they really are, where they are living, their
affiliations, income, marital status, phone number, job, and medical
condition, and I'm sure they have no legal entanglements. While we are
at it, let's also do a bit of digging about any spouse, parents,
children, siblings... you get it.

So, perhaps a group of better qualified than I "explorers and
discoverers" might wish to take on Rod Speed as a project and see what
there is to be found?

Remember, he/she has nothing to hide.

DISCLAIMER: I am not actually advocating anyone who reads this do any
"spying" on "Rod Speed", but I would like "Rod Speed" to consider why
this digging of information might sound ominous and threatening.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

How sadly true.

And many people still do not have that ability worldwide.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Yes, that is yet another aspect of invasion of privacy. It tends to get
"sloppy".

First, it's surveillance cameras that one bonded guard watches for
security against theft in a store. Next, it's tape recorded images that
are kept for 24 hours and reviewed by an employee. Then it's videotaped
archives kept for months or years and available to anyone in the bosses
office. And soon, before you know it, the bathroom or dressing room
tapes are uploaded to a web site, or the tapes are tossed when a new
boss takes over, who changes the system to DVD-RW and doesn't bother to
erase the tapes and they end up in the hands of someone picking through
the garbage, or someone who bought the stuff at auction.

People tend to get sloppy and cavalier with other people's personal
information over time, and then innocent people get hurt.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

But it will be a very characteristic clog which they will be able to
know came from your printer, Davy. ;-)

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

And I couldnt give a flying red **** about them being able to

work out which printer a particular page was printed on anyway,
I almost never print anything that leaves my place, and I couldnt
care less if what I print is identified to my printer anyway.

Yeah, well, some of us live in a bigger world than you do, I suppose.
If you only send letters to yourself, I guess you already know who they
came from ;-)

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I believe we have a pot calling the kettle black situation below.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

And I suppose you also want us to believe Rob Speed is the name on your
birth certificate...

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

OK, obviously 'measkite' (or his clown... I mean clone) has changed his
email address again, and it's time for another filter to be added to my
killfile...

Others may wish to do the same.

Art

 

[Rod Speed]

"your printer is embedding it's serial number and the date into each color
print it makes" hardly sounds as good as "your printer is spying on you" does
it?

;-)

Yep, just more terminally silly hype.

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed wrote:

Yeah, well, some of us live in a bigger world than you do, I suppose.

Nope, I just use more modern forms of communication than printed letters.

If you only send letters to yourself, I guess you already know who they came
from ;-)

Careful you dont end up blind now.

 

[Rod Speed]

You are assuming that there is no system to trace the printer from
manufacturer to dealer to retailer to consumer.

Products like photocopiers and color laser printers could easily be
traced. Some computer stores scan some items' serial numbers in at the till
along with the SKU/UPC and it appears on my receipt.

Doesnt mean that they actually know a damned thing about
who bought it tho, particular when its paid for using cash.

 

[Rod Speed]

I believe we have a pot calling the kettle black situation below.

More fool you.

 

[Rod Speed]

And I suppose you also want us to believe Rob Speed is the name on your birth
certificate...

It is my name. You get to like it or lump it.

 

[Rod Speed]

Do you think "Rod Speed" is this person's real name?

I know it is.

If not, what is he/she hiding?

Not hiding a damned thing.

Obviously, the use of an alias is grounds alone for suspicion, especially from
someone who otherwise claims he/she has nothing to hide...

Have you the remotest concept of how silly you look
in the eyes of those who know that it is my name ?

I'm sure this person will have no problem if we use the tools
available to determine who they really are, where they are living,
their affiliations, income, marital status, phone number, job, and
medical condition, and I'm sure they have no legal entanglements. While we are
at it, let's also do a bit of digging about any spouse,
parents, children, siblings... you get it.

Dig away. Hope you have a towel ready to use on your face, you'll need it.

So, perhaps a group of better qualified than I "explorers and discoverers"
might wish to take on Rod Speed as a project and see what there is to be
found?

Its been done and even someone as stupid
as you should be able to find the results.

Better have that towel handy...

Remember, he/she has nothing to hide.

I havent.

DISCLAIMER: I am not actually advocating anyone who reads this do any "spying"
on "Rod Speed",
Liar.

but I would like "Rod Speed" to consider why this digging of information might
sound ominous and threatening.

It doesnt. I use my real name for a reason.

Hope that towel is a large one.

Gunna be interesting to see if you actually have the balls to
admit to what a spectacular fool you have just made of yourself.

 

[latmu]

OK, obviously 'measkite' (or his clown... I mean clone) has changed his email
address again,

Even someone as stupid as you should be able to
use groups.google and discover what a spectacular
fool you have just made of yourself.

and it's time for another filter to be added to my killfile...

Wota ****ing wanker.

 

[Rod Speed]

Yes, that is yet another aspect of invasion of privacy. It tends to
get "sloppy".

First, it's surveillance cameras that one bonded guard watches for
security against theft in a store. Next, it's tape recorded images
that are kept for 24 hours and reviewed by an employee. Then it's
videotaped archives kept for months or years and available to anyone
in the bosses office. And soon, before you know it, the bathroom or
dressing room tapes are uploaded to a web site, or the tapes are
tossed when a new boss takes over, who changes the system to DVD-RW
and doesn't bother to erase the tapes and they end up in the hands of
someone picking through the garbage, or someone who bought the stuff
at auction.
People tend to get sloppy and cavalier with other people's personal
information over time, and then innocent people get hurt.

And FAR more often nothing like that ever happens.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Although I do not know if these printers use the device or not, there
are integrated chips with internal batteries made for computers such as
laptops and other devices that maintain date and time information and
run for 10 or more years without outside power.

Here is an example:

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/INTEL/MBD006AA/00000132.shtml


Art

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod,

Couldn't disagree more.

Your problem.

1) some printer will be identifiable to a specific individual or certainly
narrow down the possibilities, and "suspicion is 98/100ths of the law"

No it aint, and its never been.

2) moot... just because other things we begrudgingly accept also violate our
privacy doesn't excuse a new one.

I dont 'grudgingly accept', like I said, I couldnt care less who
knows where I live, what I buy, where I go, who I call, etc etc etc.

Further, there are specific benefits associated with many of the things you
mention, (like ID for bank accounts, cameras in ATMs, ID for license plates)

There are specific benefits associated with identifying which printer
was used to produce conterfeit currency and conterfeit documents too.

which either offer the individual added features or protect them from types of
fraud

As does the particular detail being hyperventilated about.

however, this particular type of tracking mainly offers potential advantage to
law enforcement

And effective law enforcement is in my interest, stupid.

or others who wish to use the information in an abusive manner.

Mindless conspiracy theory.

3) Laws change as do those in power and those who enforce the law. Something
that isn't a crime today can easily be made into one tomorrow.

And we have the power to give those who introduce
laws we dont agree with the bums rush at the ballot
box too if we object strongly enough to particular laws.

We also get to flout the laws we dont agree with too.

You have a naive world view
Nope.

and you obviously have never lived under an oppressive government

There you go making a spectacular fool of yourself, again.

or understood how tracking information can be used in illegitimate ways.

In spades.

4) How intrusive it is we will have to wait and see.

No we wont, we have already seen, its been around for a long time now.

It depends on how and who uses the information.

No it doesnt, we have decent processes
in place to ensure that it cant be misused.

Just like we do with all those other things like card
use, phone records, bank account use, etc etc etc.

You can stop the headless chicken hysterics now.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

The printer can take care of it's own clock, right from the factory, and
for many years to come. It doesn't have to involve being set, in fact,
it would be best that this clock not be reset, because that would allow
for all sorts of fudging with time and date stamp, but a non-accessible
10 year clock and calendar would be very helpful information for the
powers that have desire for it.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Especially on the network-capable printers, I don't ever recall

having to install a product-specific driver on any computer that
sent print jobs to the printer. Or even tell anything what model
printer it was, beyond "Postscript". Good thing, too, since I doubt
there'd be an available driver for a DEC Alpha. Of course, if it's
got network access to the internet, it can get time from NTP.

Many printers use manufacturer's drivers, and those "in box" drivers
from the OS... they are also mainly written by the manufacturers but are
included on the OS disks.

However, as I have made the statement before, the printer can leave the
factory with a battery incorporated chip which keep the date and time
for over 10 years.

Art