Re: stopping photocopying, take II

[Daniel Wiltshire <dwiltshire -at- PNMT -dot- COM>]

Our method of protecting sensitive documents is a slight variation on one I
saw described here earlier.  We take advantage of MS Word 97's
"watermarking" feature.  We distribute each copy on paper only.  The title
page and all other page footers, of course, say "Confidential/Do Not Copy".
The watermark places the recipient's name in outline characters diagonally
across each page.  This method doesn't _prevent_ the document from
wandering, but if a recipient makes unauthorized copies anyway, it
_identifies_ the source of the leak.  The watermark may discourage
unauthorized copying, because it's difficult and time-consuming to
white-out the watermark on each and every page.  We're relying on the
honesty of each individual to keep his/her copy secure.  When we issue a
revision, we call back old copies.
The disadvantage is that the watermark seems to slow down the laser printer
tremendously.  Since each recipient has to get a copy custom printed for
him/her with a unique watermark, doing so for five or six recipients can
take a few hours.

Dan





Shawn Wilson <shawn -dot- wilson -at- IDSNET -dot- COM> on 01/27/99 12:46:32 PM

Please respond to Shawn Wilson <shawn -dot- wilson -at- IDSNET -dot- COM>

To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
cc:    (bcc: Daniel Wiltshire/PNT/PUSA)
Subject:  Re: stopping photocopying, take II




        From:    Paul Branchaud <paul -at- ZKS -dot- NET <mailto:paul -at- ZKS -dot- NET> >

>I was informed a few years ago that a major coffee company (which will
>remain unnamed) printed their procedures and recipes on a special paper
>stock. This stock, when photocopied, printed a special code that
identified
>which store had released the proprietary documents. Although this does not
>prevent photocopying, it does help to identify the source of your "leaks".
I
>believe that cheques can carry security features that prevent or deter
>photocopying. Of course, speciality papers will cost more...

I wonder if there's a way to write the invisible text so that when printed,
you see not a "special code" but some page-covering pattern that makes the
regular text illegible?

I also wonder if the documents you want to protect can be bound in such a
way that they won't rest flat on a copier/scanner bed.

From:    Steven Jong <SteveFJong -at- AOL -dot- COM <mailto:SteveFJong -at- AOL -dot- COM
<mailto:SteveFJong -at- AOL -dot- COM> > >
Subject: Invisible ink?
>
>We develop some products to combat cell-phone fraud. We would like to keep
>some of the information out of the hands of professional frauds, and it
struck
>me that if we could restrict photocopying of draft documents, that might
help.

Can you give us a little more information about who has access to the
documents and how they're distributed?  How do you suspect they'd get out
of
the office?


Shawn Wilson
Technical Writer
Integrated Decision Systems
310-478-4015 x289


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=