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Thread: Why Printers Add Secret Tracking Dots

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    Post Why Printers Add Secret Tracking Dots

    Why Printers Add Secret Tracking Dots - They’re almost invisible but contain a hidden code – and their presence on a leaked document has sparked speculation about their usefulness to FBI investigators.
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    On 3 June, 2017, FBI agents arrived at the house of government contractor Reality Leigh Winner in Augusta, Georgia. They had spent the last two days investigating a top secret classified document that had allegedly been leaked to the press. In order to track down Winner, agents claim they had carefully studied copies of the document provided by online news site The Intercept and noticed creases suggesting that the pages had been printed and “hand-carried out of a secured space”.

    In an affidavit, the FBI alleges that Winner admitted printing the National Security Agency (NSA) report and sending it to The Intercept. Shortly after a story about the leak was published, charges against Winner were made public.

    At that point, experts began taking a closer look at the document, now publicly available on the web. They discovered something else of interest: yellow dots in a roughly rectangular pattern repeated throughout the page. They were barely visible to the naked eye, but formed a coded design. After some quick analysis, they seemed to reveal the exact date and time that the pages in question were printed: 06:20 on 9 May, 2017 – at least, this is likely to be the time on the printer’s internal clock at that moment. The dots also encode a serial number for the printer.

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    carolina73 (07-29-2021)

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    I have a client - a larger insurance company. Anything it sends to its insureds have microscopic holes in it put there by the printer or sorter (I forget). Each series of holes tells what it is, what day it was sent, etc. In Ohio, evidence of something sent shifts the burden to the recipient to show it wasn't received. Thus, the "I didn't get that" means it is on them to prove it. You put the company tech on the stand to say 'Our info is it was mailed and didn't come back" - and it's pretty much over as to whether they got it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by DGUtley View Post
    I have a client - a larger insurance company. Anything it sends to its insureds have microscopic holes in it put there by the printer or sorter (I forget). Each series of holes tells what it is, what day it was sent, etc. In Ohio, evidence of something sent shifts the burden to the recipient to show it wasn't received. Thus, the "I didn't get that" means it is on them to prove it. You put the company tech on the stand to say 'Our info is it was mailed and didn't come back" - and it's pretty much over as to whether they got it.
    That is pretty crappy with the USPS as it is. I have had to call the Credit Card Company for the amount of my bill because it never arrived. I received another letter almost 2 years after the date on the postage stamp and the letter was dated. However, I do understand that "odds are" higher that someone was just lying.

    The dots idea is pretty smart idea. I wonder if they get picked up in PDF or camera photos of the documents.
    Last edited by carolina73; 07-29-2021 at 09:06 AM.

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