Archived Printer Ink is most expensive liquid in the world and it's all a scam (hooktube.com)
submitted ago by TONYHUSTLE
Posted by: TONYHUSTLE
Posting time: 2.7 years ago on
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Archived on: 6/16/2018 10:00:00 AM
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127 upvotes, 3 downvotes (98% upvoted it)
Archived Printer Ink is most expensive liquid in the world and it's all a scam (hooktube.com)
submitted ago by TONYHUSTLE
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[–] srgmpdns 0 points 29 points 29 points (+29|-0) ago (edited ago)
Let's also not forget that almost every modern inkjet printer prints a nearly-invisible code that identifies you, with tiny yellow dots:
http://www.seeingyellow.com
https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots
[–] [deleted] 0 points 9 points 9 points (+9|-0) ago (edited ago)
[–] fortuitouslyunfallen 0 points 12 points 12 points (+12|-0) ago
You're thinking about it wrong. Doesn't matter if it's connected to the internet. The police would have, or be able to gain access to a database with all that data. Where and when the printer was manufactured down to the store. From there they could check who bought it originally, then they could track that person down, find out who they sold it to etc etc. If the owner didn't know (i.e. sold it at an estate sale), they could check who was connected to the cell tower near that vicinity and go about questioning those people. That's one example, they would have other ways of getting the information.
[–] slwsnowman40 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Except the serial number is allegedly one of the items included. It'll be harder to track down to you since you got it second hand.
[–] lanre 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Here's my opinion: Not sure on printers, but computers purchases are linked to whatever credit card/name bought them, so it stands to reason that printers would be as well. Thus printer X prints yellow dots identifying itself as printer x, and then the feds ask the electronics dealer who sold that printer for their sales records and then go track down the buyer. So it'd probably go like this: fed identify it as a lexmark printer, serial # X. They go to lexmark, get their sales records, and find out it was sold in the New York City area to Y Electronics store. So they go to Y Electronics and ask for customer sales records for that printer model, and then hopefully they can link the serial # to a name. And then work from there. If not, they can investigate each of the customers (maybe dozens or a few hundred at most) depending on how serious the crime/situation is.
Here's how the government tracked down Reality Winner, who's the most recent example I can think of of someone being caught by the little yellow dots.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170606/11210737530/how-document-tracking-dots-helped-fbi-track-down-russian-hacking-doc-leaker.shtml