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Printer tracking dots
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<p>Printer tracking dots, also known as printer steganography, DocuColor tracking dots, yellow dots, secret dots, or a machine identification code (MIC), is a <a href="/facts/Digital_watermarking/73WXq5PK">digital watermark</a> which many color <a href="/facts/Laser_printing/fJ2GrUBj">laser printers</a> and <a href="/facts/Photocopier/aF7URdyU">photocopiers</a> produce on every printed page that identifies the specific device that was used to print the document. Developed by <a href="/facts/Xerox/qyxVVqaa">Xerox</a> and <a href="/facts/Canon_Inc./qoWp5I04">Canon</a> in the mid-1980s, the existence of these tracking codes became public only in 2004. </p>