The pages coming out of your color printer may contain hidden
information that could be used to track you down if you ever cross the
U.S. government. Last year, an article in PC World magazine pointed out that printouts from many color laser printers contained yellow dots scattered across
the page, viewable only with a special kind of flashlight. The article
quoted a senior researcher at Xerox Corp. as saying the dots contain
information useful to law-enforcement authorities, a secret digital
“license tag” for tracking down criminals.
Similar embedded control and tracking coding seems a likely and probably would be useful for even limited nano-factories. It would require hacking to circumvent and time to detect. It could slow up and deter some forms of abuse. It would be a constant battle to increase the barriers to abuse to those with sophisticated skills.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
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