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P-Touch labelers are a HUGE security risk
- Thread starter Bill Av
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I just did a google search--yes it is on the internet, not so much ongoing discussion.
Not sure how much a risk it presents unless you are putting sensitive information on the labels. Way back in the days of typewriters (I am old and used typewriters that had cloth ribbon--some had 3 colors!) if one had one that used a carbon backed film (like some of the IBM) nefarious folks could actually see what one had typed--like if you filled out a credit application with your SSN and other private info, or if you wrote a thesis or a soon to be best selling novel or article, one could recreate those documents by unspooling the used ribbon.
The technology that Brother (and other manufacturers) uses is heat transfer. If one were concerned about others reading the contents of ones previously made labels, one could just use a heat gun and heat the heck out of the spent cartridge before tossing it out--that should cause the heat sensitive "ink" to run together rendering the information more difficult to discern.
I have never made labels with any SSN or birthdates or private info on them. Not sure how much privacy is invaded if one were to recreate the text that reads left, right, center, blu ray player, cable, boots, printer ink, etc.
Not sure how much a risk it presents unless you are putting sensitive information on the labels. Way back in the days of typewriters (I am old and used typewriters that had cloth ribbon--some had 3 colors!) if one had one that used a carbon backed film (like some of the IBM) nefarious folks could actually see what one had typed--like if you filled out a credit application with your SSN and other private info, or if you wrote a thesis or a soon to be best selling novel or article, one could recreate those documents by unspooling the used ribbon.
The technology that Brother (and other manufacturers) uses is heat transfer. If one were concerned about others reading the contents of ones previously made labels, one could just use a heat gun and heat the heck out of the spent cartridge before tossing it out--that should cause the heat sensitive "ink" to run together rendering the information more difficult to discern.
I have never made labels with any SSN or birthdates or private info on them. Not sure how much privacy is invaded if one were to recreate the text that reads left, right, center, blu ray player, cable, boots, printer ink, etc.
I thought about the typewriter thing too. Thanks for the heat gun suggestion; I tried shredding the tape - it didn’t go well. The tape that I took apart had work information on it; computer workstation names and IP addresses, people’s names with telephone numbers and the like. Probably not too dangerous, although there were a few QR codes on there
There's a great episode of Columbo with Jack Cassidy as an ex-Nazi that kills Nehemiah Persoff who is about to expose him. Colombo gets him by reading Persoff's letter from an IBM Selectric typewriter ribbon!
"Columbo" Now You See Him (TV Episode 1976) ⭐ 8.1 | Crime, Drama, Mystery
1h 38m | TV-PG
www.imdb.com
Yeah, some of the IBM Selectrics and Brother typewriters back in the Eighties and Nineties had single use tapes that left a visible imprint.
And then there's the Dymo Label-it from the late Sixties:
en.wikipedia.org
It would generate an embossed plastic tape that had a peel-off back that had the imprint of whatever was printed on the label.
As long as you're not printing credit card numbers or personal identification numbers (like passport numbers, drivers license numbers, etc.), I fail to see a big risk.
The bigger risk was the deprecated carbon copy credit card imprint slips used with the old "knuckle buster" devices. These were phased out around the turn of the millenium, around the same time that stores started to move away from printing the full credit card number on charge receipts. Same thing with mailed statements; the full number is no longer on most correspondence.
This was around the same time that banks using social security numbers as account numbers discontinued this practice.
The relative risk of these used P-Touch label cartridges compared to so much online activity (including connecting to public wifi networks) is miniscule.
You can worry about it if you want but likely there are a thousand other things in your life that are a greater privacy/security risk (like weak passwords).
And then there's the Dymo Label-it from the late Sixties:
Dymo Corporation - Wikipedia
It would generate an embossed plastic tape that had a peel-off back that had the imprint of whatever was printed on the label.
As long as you're not printing credit card numbers or personal identification numbers (like passport numbers, drivers license numbers, etc.), I fail to see a big risk.
The bigger risk was the deprecated carbon copy credit card imprint slips used with the old "knuckle buster" devices. These were phased out around the turn of the millenium, around the same time that stores started to move away from printing the full credit card number on charge receipts. Same thing with mailed statements; the full number is no longer on most correspondence.
This was around the same time that banks using social security numbers as account numbers discontinued this practice.
The relative risk of these used P-Touch label cartridges compared to so much online activity (including connecting to public wifi networks) is miniscule.
You can worry about it if you want but likely there are a thousand other things in your life that are a greater privacy/security risk (like weak passwords).
For a long time the military used social security numbers as ID numbers--on service records, dental records, and medical records--brilliant idea that persisted for decades. A lot of that was on paper records--definitely no way to encrypt paper.
You're right - "Huge" was a little much. I'm still going to take out the ribbons and destroy them, though.