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List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots

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586 points prawn | 2 comments | 06 Jun 17 22:12 UTC | HN request time: 0.41s | source
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ProfessorLayton ◴[06 Jun 17 23:25 UTC] No.14502387[source]▶
It would be neat if there was a privacy printing app that added random yellow dots to a document to obscure the info.

Perhaps simply printing a single yellow dot through a few different printers would be enough to accomplish the same thing. Then using the resulting paper for "real" prints.

The more I think about it, this could even be a service. "Preprinted" paper that went though a bunch of printers, each adding their own unique identifier each time, then sold and distributed.

That or just paying cash for a printer.

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brianwawok ◴[07 Jun 17 01:18 UTC] No.14502999[source]▶
I hate to be the security is not important if you aren't doing anything wrong guy.... but I use a printer to do things like print a picture for my kid to color. What the hack are you doing with you printer to need pre dotted paper?
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1. cm2187 ◴[07 Jun 17 07:50 UTC] No.14504414[source]▶
The idea isn't that everyone needs this privacy every day. The problem is that someone will need this privacy one day and this monitoring will have made it impossible. Think whistle-blowing, anonymous tipping. Think challenging the power in place.

I heard that quote in a Snowden interview though perhaps he was quoting someone else: it's not because one has nothing controversial to say that one shouldn't support free speech.

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2. brianwawok ◴[07 Jun 17 11:47 UTC] No.14505443[source]▶
I'm just not sure printer dots is the fight to make. So many other fights. Snowdon as far as I know never printed off documents. So not sure how it would apply to him.