Your Printer is SPY-ing on you – Really.

Did you know that your printer could be secretly tracking your every move? It's a reality that’s been in place for more than two decades, and you likely never even noticed. Every printer you’ve used since 2001, especially color laser printers, has a hidden code embedded in your printed documents. Sounds like something out of a spy movie, right? But it's all too real.

Here’s how it works: Most modern color laser printers and copiers come equipped with an invisible, coded watermark that’s printed on every page. This secret mark, made using yellow toner, contains information like the printer's serial number, the time and date it was printed, and in some cases, the printer’s location. You can’t see it with the naked eye, but it’s there, printed on every document you print. The secret? It can be decoded if needed, which means authorities could track the document back to the printer—and even to the person who used it—if it were ever part of a crime investigation.

This technology was initially introduced to help curb the issue of counterfeit currency. The U.S. government persuaded printer manufacturers to include these tracking dots as a way to identify where counterfeit bills might have been printed. But now, in the era of mass surveillance, it’s not just about counterfeiters. This coded information could be used to track any document, including personal, private, or even political material, without your knowledge or consent.

Imagine that: A document you thought was private—whether it's a letter, a report, or even a protest flyer—could be traced back to you, thanks to a tiny, hidden code in the printer’s output. And what's even more concerning? There's currently no law preventing the government or any other agency from using this code to track the origins of non-criminal documents.

As it stands, the only protection you have is your printer manufacturer's privacy policy, but that’s not guaranteed. With no federal regulations on the books, there’s nothing stopping governments from using this technology for surveillance purposes far beyond its original intent.

If you're concerned about this invasion of privacy, you're not alone. Groups like the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) are pushing to raise awareness about what these tracking dots reveal and how we can protect our personal information in the digital age.

The next time you hit print, remember: That seemingly innocent piece of paper might be sharing more than you think.