A software engineer was surprised when discovered the amount of data collected by using HP printers. Robert Heaton paid attention to the different steps to install an HP printer and found out what many users don't see very often because they ignore the printer manufacturer's privacy policy.
Their discovery made it clear that HP goes further by extracting a surprising amount of data. especially what a user prints, Heaton said in an article he posted on his website last Sunday.
When installing a new home printer from your in-laws, Robert Heaton, instead of doing what many of us would do and click everything until it starts working, he took the time to read everything the printer asks for during the setup process.
Everything was going well and only at the beginning. “But then, after removing the cardboard pieces and the blue strip from the various drawers of the machine, I noticed that the final step required downloading any application to a phone or computer.
My detector went off, ”Heaton wrote. One might think that the installation requires some data, such as email, to allow HP to then direct the user with advertising for these supplies. But it is more than that, according to the software engineer.
“Of course, it was actually a way of trying to get people to subscribe to expensive ink subscriptions and / or give out their email addresses, plus something even more damaging
What Heaton describes as "bad" is that the printer manufacturer wants its devices to collect an unexpected amount of data that a reasonable person would never expect.
This data includes “metadata on your devices, as well as information about all the documents you print, including the timestamp, the number of pages and the application it is printing, ”wrote the engineer.
However, according to Heaton, an advanced user can still escape this phase of the installation process by navigating cautiously through UI schematics which are likely to mislead some people who are not careful.
This is what you discovered in the privacy policy related to HP installation:
Product usage data: We collect product usage data, such as printed pages, print mode, the media used, the brand of ink or toner, the type of file printed (.pdf, .jpg, etc.), the application used for printing (Word, Excel, Adobe Photoshop, etc.), file size, date and time, and the status of other printer supplies. We do not analyze or collect the content of any files or information that an application may display.
Device Data- We collect information about your computer, printer and / or device, such as operating system, firmware, memory size, region, language, time zone, model number, date of issue, device age, date of manufacture, version of the device. browser, manufacturer, connection port, warranty status, unique identifiers, advertising identifiers, and other technical information that varies by product.
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The privacy policy states in the "Product use data" section that "We do not analyze or collect the content of any files or information that an application may display." However, business MFPs store copies of printed documents on internal storage media, as it came to public attention nearly a decade ago.
Referring to another section of the company's privacy policy, Heaton infers that HP intended to use the data it collects for a wide variety of purposes, the most important of which is to serve advertising.
The section in question indicates that "Product Usage Data" and "Device Data" (among many other types of data) are collected and shared with "service providers" for advertising purposes, Heaton wrote.
Given these passages of HP policy read by the computer engineer, it is clear, he said, that “the job of this setup application is not just to sell expensive ink subscriptions; it is also collecting user information ».
Heaton also imagines that a user's data is leaked to HP by the printer itself., rather than client-side software.
HP has already been sued for practices related to its printers, as a few years ago, HP released a software update that prevented its printers from working with cheaper third-party ink cartridges.
EFF then asked HP to cancel this latest firmware update, whereupon HP gave in to pressure and announced in September 2016 an update to restore the old system, allowing third-party printer cartridges to be unlocked.
Source: https://robertheaton.com