The BoBo Files

I had considered talking about the big news today regarding the fact that GWB finally lifted the moratorium on offshore drilling after his dad instituted it 17 years ago – and – now the rest of the country will now get to see how obstructionist the Dems are regarding our natural resources – but – I figure everyone else will be talking about it. Instead – I came across this story – and it’s a pretty good one.

Printer dots raise privacy concerns

See that image of yellow dots over there to the right? I found that over here at this website: Seeing Yellow. Apparently, those little yellow dots are automatically printed on everything and anything whenever you print something using a laser printer. This technology has been around since the 1980′s when laser printers first came out. This series of yellow dots (virtually naked to the eye) is a tracking code for the printer. If you use a blue LED light you can see the dots. Every laser printer has their own identification code, so, if anyone ever wanted to find out who printed something, they can show this dot pattern to the laser printer manufacturer and they can tell you what printer it came from and who bought it.

Okay – so – initially this would seem like a big privacy concern, right? Here’s some of that story:

The dots, invisible to the naked eye, can be seen using a blue LED light and are used by authorities such as the Secret Service to investigate counterfeit bills made with laser printers, says Lorelei Pagano, director of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group.

The technology began as laser printers were first produced in the mid-1980s and governments and banks feared an explosion of counterfeiting, Xerox spokesman Bill McKee says. “In many cases, it is a requirement to do business internationally that the printers are equipped with this technology,” McKee says.

The dots tell authorities the serial number of a printer that made a document. In some cases, it also tells the time and date it was printed, Pagano says. “The Secret Service is the only U.S. body that has the ability to decode the information,” she says.

Printer makers “cooperate with law enforcement” and will tell authorities where a printer was made and sold, McKee says.

The Secret Service uses the dots only to investigate counterfeiting, agency spokesman Ed Donovan says.

So – essentially, the only people who have access to this information are the Secret Service for the purposes of tracking counterfeiters and putting them behind bars. Sounds pretty good to me. I don’t get what the big deal is. We’ve gone almost 30 years without incidence. Here’s the concern:

Privacy advocates worry that the little-known technology could ensnare political dissidents, whistle-blowers or anyone who prints materials that authorities want to track.

Oh! I get it! We should ensure the privacy of political dissidents or anyone who prints materials the authorities want to track! I can perhaps see the issue with the whistle-blowers. However, in order for a whistle-blower lawsuit to go through, the government will identify them in public documents anyway – so – that takes that issue away.

But – even if the Secret Service wanted to use it to track anyone else other than counterfeiters – you know, for example – political dissidents or other criminals – why shouldn’t they? Again, privacy advocates are more concerned about the rights of criminals and criminal enterprises than they are the general public.

Again, just like with FISA and the Patriot Act – they’re all in an uproar over nothing. Unless you’re a criminal printing up things you shouldn’t you don’t have a problem with this. They’ve been utilizing this form of surveillance for 30 years – why are people just now becoming concerned about of all of this? There hasn’t been a violation or misuse of this program by the Secret Service at all.

It’s just more drum-beating by the paranoid. The ACLU hasn’t jumped on this yet, but, I’m sure there will be a lawsuit filed by the end of the week to get the manufacturers barred from adding this to all the laser printers.