U.S. Government Tracks Citizens Down, One Page at a Time

 

                                          Image Courtesy of technotalks.com

What if the government could discover your location, simply from analyzing a printed document? This may be a scary thought, but it’s the reality Americans face. Even though this process has existed for twenty years, the average American citizen is just now becoming aware of it.

            According to PC Magazine, many laser printers will print its own serial number and manufacturing code on every document. The serial number and the manufacturing codes are both only detectable by utilizing a blue LED flashlight and a magnifying glass. Usually, this information is printed as millimeter-sized yellow dots; thee dots are tucked inside the printed words and margins on every inch of the page. In particular, Xerox laser printers will create an invisible bar code, which exhibits the serial number of the printer as well as the date and the time of the printed page. Even though this process seems to be an invasion of privacy, this dot system was created for our protection.

            Why are these printers attempting to protect us? Well, they’re actually preventing users from printing any counterfeit money. If the government officials believe a particular sum of money is counterfeit, they will check the money and then track the person and/or business by either the “invisible” barcode and the date and time or the serial number and the manufacturing code. According to Xerox, only Secret Service members have the ability to read the codes. In addition, these codes are (supposedly) only analyzed in counterfeit investigations.

            Even so, there is no law claiming a government official could not check the paper for other reasons. I believe customers need to be aware of the happenings of their environment. Laser printing companies should package a notice explaining the yellow dots within the printer’s packaging. Neither the government nor the printing companies asked the American citizens if we were “okay” with this dot system. In addition, this process is not very publicized; thus, most people are unaware of these occurrences. If the government’s going to track the public, they need to be honest with the public and inform us. Now that my research on this subject is complete, I wonder if anymore of our beloved household and business technology items are reporting us to Big Brother. Only time will tell.

Works Cited 

Musgrove, Mike. "Sleuths Crack Tracking Code Discovered in Color Printers."               
            911 Review. Washington Post. Web. 1 Feb. 2011.

"Possibly Your Color Laser Printer Possess the Technology to Track Documents."

             thethingswetalkabout.com. The Things We Talk About. Web. 17 June 2010.

Tuohey, Jason. "Government Uses Laser Printer Technology to Track Documents."
            PC World Magazine. PC World Magazine., 22 Nov. 2004. Web. 1 Feb. 2011.