Printer steganography

An illustration showing small yellow tracking dots on white paper, generated by a color laser printer.

Another illustration. Right picture illuminated using blue light.

Printer steganography is a type of steganography – "hiding data within data"^[1] where tiny yellow dots are added to each page. The dots are barely visible and contain encoded printer serial numbers and timestamps. Unlike many forms of steganography, the hidden information is not intended to be available from a computer file, but to allow serial number and time of printing to be determined by close examination of a printout.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation stated in 2015 that "the documents that we previously received through a (Freedom of Information Request)^[2] suggested that all major manufacturers of color laser printers entered a secret agreement with governments to ensure that the output of those printers is forensically traceable....it is probably safest to assume that all modern color laser printers do include some form of tracking information that associates documents with the printer's serial number."^[3]

History

During the 1990s Xerox and other companies sought to reassure governments that their printers would not be used for forgery. The identification is by means of a watermark, often using yellow-on-white, embedded in the printout of each page, and in conjunction with other information can be used to identify the printer which was used to print any document originally produced on a wide range of popular printers. It has been reported that monochrome printers and copiers from major manufacturers also include the markings. It may be actual text, or a repeated pattern of dots throughout the page, more easily visible under blue light or with a magnifying glass, and is intended to produce minimal visible change to the printout, ideally being imperceptible to the naked eye.

In 2005, the Electronic Frontier Foundation cracked the codes for Xerox DocuColor printers and published an online guide to their detection.^[4] Most printers' codes have not been decoded, although the coding system framework and printer serial number encoding is the same on both DocuColor and the Epson Aculaser C1100/C1100N/A.

See also

• Steganography
• Microprinting
• Coded anti-piracy
• EURion constellation Pattern used on most bank notes internationally, to allow photocopy machines to detect and refuse copying of bank notes
• Mobile phone tracking

References

1. Artz, D (May–Jun 2001). "Digital steganography: hiding data within data". IEEE Xplore. 5 (3): 75, 80. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
2. Lee, Robert (July 27, 2005). "Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request" (PDF) (Letter). Letter to Latita M. Huff. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
3. "List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
4. "DocuColor Tracking Dot Decoding Guide". EFF. Retrieved 2011-05-02.

External links

• Musgrove, Mike (October 19, 2005). "Sleuths Crack Tracking Code Discovered in Color Printers". The Washington Post.
• Risks-L digest (October 26, 2005)
• DocuColor Tracking Dot Decoding Guide Electronic Frontier Foundation (October, 2005)
• Electronic Frontier Foundation information pages
• Electronic Frontier Foundation list of affected and non affected printers
• Jason Tuohey (November 22, 2004). "Government Uses Color Laser Printer Technology to Track Documents". PCWorld. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013.