Tiny dots produced by some laser printers are a secret code that can allow the government to track down counterfeiters, a new study concludes, raising the hackles of privacy advocates.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation said its researchers recently broke the code behind the tiny tracking dots and said the US Secret Service confirmed that the tracking is part of a deal struck with selected color laser printer manufacturers to identify counterfeiters.
"We've found that the dots from at least one line of printers encode the date and time your document was printed, as well as the serial number of the printer," said EFF researcher Seth Schoen.
EFF said the yellow dots are less than one millimeter in diameter and can be seen only with a blue light, magnifying glass or microscope.
Lorie Lewis, a spokeswoman at the Secret Service, declined to confirm the report directly but acknowledged that the agency "has worked together with other government agencies and industry on preventive technological countermeasures designed to discourage the illegal use of printers and copiers in the production of counterfeit currency."
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