List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots

FOSS seems to be the best, if not only, solution. (As usual, when it comes to freedom and privacy...)

Do you mean FOSS printer drivers? Are you sure that would make a difference?

It's likely any tracking mechanism would be implemented inside the hardware, not as part of drivers.

No, FOSS printer hardware, firmware and software. Obviously, nothing mainstream like that exists. It's not just the dots. Since printers are connected to networks, and there have been countless printer vulnerabilities, it's a worthy cause in its own right.

It would be in the firmware. It should be possible to hack a printer with open source firmware.

You could even make a printer with open source hardware - something like this, but higher resolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX09WnGU6ZY, or think http://reprap.org/ - home made 3d printers made only from commonly available and 3d printed parts.

I know next to nothing about printers, so I'm not sure of anything!

But what I'm seeing in the discussions here is a ton of uncertainty about what models even use tracking methods and what methods they use. So I'm guessing this is mostly because we don't know what the software in these printers is doing.

(Disclaimer - I know nothing about actual printers.) Really? I would expect that things like location, IP address, time and date, etc would be the most important privacy threats and would be implemented in software. Although I agree that hardware tracking is still an important issue that open-source drivers wouldn't solve.

> It should be possible to hack a printer with open source firmware.

You'd think so. After all, Stallman created FSF in part because of his frustrations with a printer!

> In 1980, Stallman and some other hackers at the AI Lab were refused access to the source code for the software of a newly installed laser printer, the Xerox 9700. Stallman had modified the software for the Lab's previous laser printer (the XGP, Xerographic Printer), so it electronically messaged a user when the person's job was printed, and would message all logged-in users waiting for print jobs if the printer was jammed. Not being able to add these features to the new printer was a major inconvenience, as the printer was on a different floor from most of the users. This experience convinced Stallman of people's need to be able to freely modify the software they use.