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Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

brahmsyellowdots.blogspot.com

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Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally when there is a major change to a currency (such as the move to polymer banknotes [an awesome Australian invention] in Australia 15 years ago) the old style bills only remain in circulation for a short period, perhaps a year or so. Within a couple of years, the old style notes become so exceptionally rare in everyday transactions that the presence of one raises eyebrows, and is inspected carefully. While ou…

In America retailers will accept older bills without question.

That's because there has not been a disruptive change in USD banknotes for a very long time. And it's desperately needed -- their cotton paper notes are just crap.

The Australian switch to polymer meant an entirely new suite of banknotes which bear almost no resemblance to the paper ones they replaced.

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it was a Purdue group that documented fingerprinting techniques on scanners and printers. Seems that stepper motors have fairly unique characteristics among models and even individual devices (though, with less accuracy).

Anything helps. Even if you can say it was printed on a Cannon over a HP can potentially narrow things down. I personally don't see what the huge deal is. I mean we're not going to get hauled off for disseminating communist literature and I don't think anyone plans on printing currency. So I don't know where the huge privacy concern whatever comes from, because unless you regularly forge time stamps on documents then…

* Government whistleblowers

* Large corporation whistleblowers (may have resources to hire PIs with connections to track)

* Civil dissent: think Arab Spring, not communist literature. The technology is not restricted to populations living under liberal regimes.

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#83
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should they. It's YOUR government. You do it.

But I was told corporations are people.

I've been hearing that a lot since the OWS movement started. It's worth pointing out that the Citizens United ruling stated that in certain freedom of speech issues, corporations have the same rights as people, not that they are people.

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#84
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You assume that the over three quarters of a million US law enforcement officers act uniformly. What's the statistical significance of a youtube video? (Edit: The question's phrasing is for effect; I'm well aware there are egregious abuses documented in number greater than one. But I'm still not convinced that with the non-uniformity of the LEO population between different jurisdictions, etc, as well as the non-rando…

> You assume that the over three quarters of a million US law enforcement officers act uniformly. No, I don't. It only takes one less-than-perfectly-honest cop or prosecutor to totally destroy your life. Just ask Troy Davis. (Oh, wait, you can't. He's dead. He was recently executed for a crime he (almost certainly) did not commit.) Being convicted of a crime you didn't commit may be a risk you're willing to take, but…

We're a math literate audience. It's not snide to suggest your opinions have no statistical weight.

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In America retailers will accept older bills without question.

That's because there has not been a disruptive change in USD banknotes for a very long time. And it's desperately needed -- their cotton paper notes are just crap. The Australian switch to polymer meant an entirely new suite of banknotes which bear almost no resemblance to the paper ones they replaced.

At this point there's a decent installed base of automated bill-reading machinery, though. Not that these ought to be sacrosanct or anything, but the cost and inconveniences associated with a rollout of new bills is substantial.

Plus, people will complain about the new ones. :)

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US government is made up of people like you. If you really want to enact change, you can. Government officials don't just become government officials. > I didn't create, buy, or even sanction it. But, you choose to live beneath it. If you don't like the rules, you can work to change it. This is a democracy though, so don't think that everyone will blindly agree with you. This obviously assumes you are an American…

> The US government is made up of people like you The whole is not merely the sum of the parts. And the people making up the government are nothing like me. For one, they believe government is a means to itself, while I do not. > If you really want to enact change, you can Citation needed. > you choose to live beneath it hh A one-possibility choice is not a choice. Your unstated assumption is that my personal life sh…

Ah, yes, the democracy virus. Democracy sucks, honestly, but unfortunately the cure is much worse than the disease. :(

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#87

Yeah, I only buy lasers that don't have them, there are lists out there of which ones. The yellow doesn't photocopy well so if you have to use such a printer, you can erase the tracking dots on your anonymously distributed pamphlets by monochrome photocopying at Kinkos the master copy you produced with your home or business laser.

Make sure you destroy the copier too. :) http://digitaljournal.com/article/291894

At the UPS location near me they make a point of informing you that the memory is cleared automatically. They seem to be aware of this.

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#88
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why on earth would anyone bother forging Canadian currency? Just ribbing on ya :p It is true, there are other preventative measures, but any one measure can be beaten. It's like computer security- any computer can be hacked, it's just a game of making it hard enough to hack that it is not worth it, or takes too long.

Sure, any anti-counterfeit measure can be beaten, but it is certainly possible to design banknotes in such a way that consumer-grade printers can't produce anything remotely resembling a real banknote. Then there will be no excuse for spying on citizens' everyday printing activities. The fact that this alternative is not even on the table adds to the impression that the U.S. government, as usual, is trying to use Big…

I've seen counterfeit Canadian money. You can buy it in bulk from people at a discount to the face value...

Many retailers in Canada have signs saying they'll refuse to take $100 bills (probably the reason for the recent roll-out of new $100 bills).

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#89
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You assume that the over three quarters of a million US law enforcement officers act uniformly. No, I don't. It only takes one less-than-perfectly-honest cop or prosecutor to totally destroy your life. Just ask Troy Davis. (Oh, wait, you can't. He's dead. He was recently executed for a crime he (almost certainly) did not commit.) Being convicted of a crime you didn't commit may be a risk you're willing to take, but…

We're a math literate audience. It's not snide to suggest your opinions have no statistical weight.

Snideness is about HOW you say something, not WHAT you say. "What is the statistical significance of a YouTube video?" is a snide comment completely independent of the question of whether or not a YouTube video actually has statistical significance (whatever that could possibly mean).

BTW, your claimed math literacy is not much in evidence here. Of course opinions have no "statistical weight" (whatever that could possibly mean). Only data has statistical significance. So let's examine the data. So far in this discussion I've offered up three data points:

1. A video (hosted on YouTube, though I fail to see how that could possibly be relevant) of two individuals, one of whom claims to be a lawyer and another who claims to be a former police officer, both of whom say that it is unwise to talk to the police under any circumstances, and explain why in considerable detail.

2. The well-documented fact that the Innocence Project has to date exonerated 280 people.

3. The fact that Troy Davis was recently executed for a crime he almost certainly did not commit.

Are these data points statistically significant? I have no idea. I haven't done the math. But 1) neither have you and 2) the burden of proof is not on me. I am only arguing that it is not unreasonable to be wary of law enforcement. If someone wants to dispute that, the burden is on them to show that law enforcement is trustworthy. So far no one participating in this discussion has offered up EVEN A SINGLE DATA POINT in support of that position. So my three data points may or may not be statistically significant, but (and here comes a fine example of a snide comment) I dare say they have better prospects than your zero data points.

Re: Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark

#90
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You assume that the over three quarters of a million US law enforcement officers act uniformly. No, I don't. It only takes one less-than-perfectly-honest cop or prosecutor to totally destroy your life. Just ask Troy Davis. (Oh, wait, you can't. He's dead. He was recently executed for a crime he (almost certainly) did not commit.) Being convicted of a crime you didn't commit may be a risk you're willing to take, but…

We're a math literate audience. It's not snide to suggest your opinions have no statistical weight.

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