Yet another shocking transgression by the US government has recently become apparent, as detailed by TechNews Daily. The government have succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each printed page with identifying information. That means that without your knowledge or consent, an act you assume is private could become public. A research team led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recently broke the code behind tiny tracking dots that some color laser printers secretly hide in every document they print. The U.S. Secret Service admitted that the tracking information is part of a 'deal' struck with selected color laser printer manufacturers, ostensibly to identify counterfeiters. However, the nature of the private information encoded in each document was not previously known.

"We've found that the dots from at least one line of printers encode the date and time your document was printed, as well as the serial number of the printer," said EFF Staff Technologist Seth David Schoen.

The dots are yellow, less than one millimeter in diameter, and are typically repeated over each page of a document. In order to see the pattern, you need a blue light, a magnifying glass, or a microscope (for instructions on how to see the dots, click here). Xerox previously admitted that it provided these tracking dots to the government, but indicated that only the Secret Service had the ability to read the code. The Secret Service maintains that it only uses the information for criminal counterfeit investigations. However, there are no laws to prevent the government from abusing this information, and based on past history, they certainly would.

"Underground democracy movements that produce political or religious pamphlets and flyers, like the Russian samizdat of the 1980s, will always need the anonymity of simple paper documents, but this technology makes it easier for governments to find dissenters," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. "Even worse, it shows how the government and private industry make backroom deals to weaken our privacy by compromising everyday equipment like printers. The logical next question is: what other deals have been or are being made to ensure that our technology rats on us?"

Damn good question, and I suspect there are plenty.

EFF is still working on cracking the codes from other printers. For a list of the printers investigated so far, click here. You can decode your own Xerox DocuColor prints using EFF's automated program here. I'm sure some of the owners of these printers will be demanding a full refund since this information should have been made available at the time of purchase. I wouldn't be surprised to see some businesses taking legal action against the manufacturers concerned because of the deception. Not good.