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FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

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Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#151

Post by dragonwriter »

GoOnThenDoTell wrote: post #144
NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The DMV typically needs a proof of residency because you're only allowed to have one state license - the one for the state of which you're a resident.

What’s inherently wrong with being licensed in multiple states?

> What’s inherently wrong with being licensed in multiple states?

Presenting, and having infraction points assigned to, different licenses for traffic offenses.

Using nonresident states to avoid license restrictions in the state of residency.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#152

Post by JadeNB »

phreack wrote: post #102
tombert wrote: post #32

I really hate dealing with my printer (or any printer for that matter), so I make pretty liberal use of my drawing tablet at this point. I import the PDF into Krita, use the ballpoint pen brush, and sign. I export to PNG, then use an imagemagick script to rotate it some random number between 1-3 degrees, and add noise onto it to look like a scan. It's a pain, but it's still less annoying than dealing with a printer.

There's also this website which I've used successfully with many bureaucracies. https://www.scanyourpdf.com/

I'm not too enthusiastic about uploading personal information and a signature to a random website.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#153

Post by kube-system »

JadeNB wrote: post #146
kube-system wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is to authenticate residency, and while it’s not a great system, there also isn’t any better alternatives.

> The point is to authenticate residency, and while it’s not a great system, there also isn’t any better alternatives. "No-one important enough is bothered, so we haven't had to try to fix it" is a far cry from "there [aren't] any better alternatives". We're HN; that's not the hacker ethos.

RealID requirements were written in the past and exist in the present. While it would be great to have another solution, one doesn’t exist. Happy to hear a proposal, however. I, personally, haven’t been able to come up with a more equitable idea.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#154

Post by tombert »

phreack wrote: post #102
tombert wrote: post #32

I really hate dealing with my printer (or any printer for that matter), so I make pretty liberal use of my drawing tablet at this point. I import the PDF into Krita, use the ballpoint pen brush, and sign. I export to PNG, then use an imagemagick script to rotate it some random number between 1-3 degrees, and add noise onto it to look like a scan. It's a pain, but it's still less annoying than dealing with a printer.

There's also this website which I've used successfully with many bureaucracies. https://www.scanyourpdf.com/

I've seen this one, I think it was on HN about a year ago, but a lot of the forms I've been signing in the last year have been stuff containing a fair amount of personal information (e.g. wife's immigration stuff, refinancing a house, banking annoyances, etc.). I can't really audit the code for an online service, and I find it unlikely that either Krita or ImageMagick are sending this information externally, considering both seem to work fine even without an internet connection.

EDIT: Clicking on it, I see the source code is available. If I can run it on my local box then this might be a little less nasty than mucking with the `convert` command.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#156

Post by yason »

kube-system wrote: post #135
devwastaken wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they also do this for ID's, and for voter ID's. It's specifically created to prevent people whom don't have only 1 permanent address,with paper billing, being able to live their daily lives. I had to go to a local county courthouse 4 times to get a "realid" and to renew a driver's license. I had to call all sorts of people to get printed statements sent to me. It's incredibly ridiculous, I would call it complete…

The point is to authenticate residency, and while it’s not a great system, there also isn’t any better alternatives.

When you move to a new state, I suppose you don't fill in a bunch of forms to register yourself as a resident in the state then? So that when DMV and other institutions ask for residency they could just check back in the states records (or have you bring a copy of the state's residency certificate) ?

The state surely must know how to tax you, and thus they need to know who you are and that you're a resident in the state... It seems the information inevitably must be there already so why try to imitate that with a bunch of random tokens such as bills sent to an address where they could go straight to the source?

Just curious.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#157

Post by trimbo »

function_seven wrote: post #122
xur17 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a png of my signature, and I just paste it into the pdf, and submit that. Haven't run into a complaint yet, and I don't have to print anything.

Just a couple months ago I had a couple of forms rejected with a note “needs wet signature” They were for a 401(k) plan I was updating RMD choices. I got the PDF form from their site, filled it out in Preview, pasted my signature PNG, and used an app on my phone to fax it(!) to their number. Got rejected. Had to actually print the damn things and sign them with a pen, scan them again with my phone’s camera, and re-fa…

Vanguard?

They're ridiculous with this. It's a huge pain with trusts.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#158

Post by tmalsburg2 »

wolframhempel wrote: post #59

As someone living in Berlin, having to deal with German bureaucracy I can't thank you enough. Now it just needs a "send as Fax" button...:-)

I send "fax" via https://epost.de which is incredibly useful public authorities. You upload a PDF and they print it and send it as snailmail. Since they verify your identity, it has the legal status of a fax (is my understanding).

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#159

Post by showerst »

Shared404 wrote: post #128
mdavis6890 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many places your driver license is used as authoritative identification for many other things, and the assumption is that those things require this additional verification. I don't know, but I think registering to vote might be one of these things in some places (it's been a while since I registered).

Side note: Why don't we have national ID in the US? I know many people don't want us to risk becoming a "show your papers" country, but A) We already kinda are (ever been pulled over?), and B) It just makes more sense to have something like ID be centralized, preferably with a much better model then SSN's.

There's a long weird history of this; the bottom line is that interest groups on all political sides hate it:

1. The ACLU-style left fear it will lead to more pervasive, easier surveillance, and more "papers please" style checks on poor people and immigrants.

2. The right hates it because it's an extension of government power, arguably a 10th amendment violation, and it would greatly simplify voting for people who traditionally vote democrat.

3. A nontrivial number of people believe (no-joke) that it would be a portent of the apocalypse, relating to the number of the beast in the book of revelation. This actually came up in a number of state legislatures as they standardized drivers licenses after 9/11.

The few polls I've ever seen actually say it's fairly popular with people, but those interest groups are non trivial.

Re: FalsiScan: Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#160

Post by function_seven »

tombert wrote: post #148
function_seven wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a couple months ago I had a couple of forms rejected with a note “needs wet signature” They were for a 401(k) plan I was updating RMD choices. I got the PDF form from their site, filled it out in Preview, pasted my signature PNG, and used an app on my phone to fax it(!) to their number. Got rejected. Had to actually print the damn things and sign them with a pen, scan them again with my phone’s camera, and re-fa…

Do you think it might have worked if you had run it through this FalsiScan program?

Yes, I bet it would have, and I wish I had heard about it then!

When I refaxed the forms, I just removed the PNG signatures from the PDFs first (leaving all other form fields typed in), printed them, signed them, made sure the two signatures were different in obvious ways (but still the "same"!), and scanned them at deliberately low resolution.

This program sounds like it automates all those steps.

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