If you care about privacy, be careful when posting lab prints because it could be use to expose you

[Bork]

When you post labs of your blood work here, you are potentially exposing yourself. I’ll keep it short: http://seeingyellow.com/ (Seeing Yellow) (seeingyellow dot com)

Also from the EFF: Printer Tracking


If you don’t have time to read this, the gist is that printers, especially professional ones used by your doctor and other lab companies, often have nearly invisible dots on them which can be used to expose you.

Combined with other identifying information about you, it’s possible to reveal your identity, especially if you live in a smaller town. And anything you’ve shared on Internet forums about yourself can be used to narrow things down.

In short, don’t post print outs of your lab reports. It’s safer to type out the relevant stuff and post that instead.

 

[Jet Labs]

While I don't doubt this being possible it sure as heck ain't something your local pig department is capable of doing. This kind of tracking is mainly done by the FBI for things like death threats and mail bombs and any agency that can do this 150% does NOT give a shit about steroid users.

There is ZERO evidence that anyone has been busted because of tracking blood work forms so I suggest you retire the tinfoil hat bro

 

[Bork]

While I don't doubt this being possible it sure as heck ain't something your local pig department is capable of doing. This kind of tracking is mainly done by the FBI for things like death threats and mail bombs and any agency that can do this 150% does NOT give a shit about steroid users.

There is ZERO evidence that anyone has been busted because of tracking blood work forms so I suggest you retire the tinfoil hat bro

It’s an added layer of precaution, bro.

And it’s not just about police when your doctor’s name, or even your own name, shows up on the yellow micro dots.

 

[Jet Labs]

It’s an added layer of precaution, bro.

And it’s not just about police when your doctor’s name, or even your own name, shows up on the yellow micro dots.

If anything they can tell the office, but even that is unlikely and sure as shit there's no patient information imprinted into the paperwork

You fucking nuts bro!

 

[Bork]

If anything they can tell the office, but even that is unlikely and sure as shit there's no patient information imprinted into the paperwork

You fucking nuts bro!

Hi. I work in IT and intelligence in the private sector and have done so for a long time. I can dox people on little tiny pieces of info like this, or even a photograph of an area they’ve visited.

As I said before, sometimes it’ll have your name on it if you printed it yourself. Don’t ask why non-technical people would do that; you know the answer to that question.

That said, I won’t be responding to petty insults anymore. I’m just trying to help members of the board protect themselves.

 

[BeefNewton]

I'd be more concerned over the actual lab values themselves being more easily identifiable. For example, my specific values surely aren't going to be identical to someone else's... at least not in great frequency. And the more lab results posted, the more unique it becomes, especially if uncommonly tested things like ammonia are posted. At the very least, it would greatly narrow down the search.

 

[Bork]

I'd be more concerned over the actual lab values themselves being more easily identifiable. For example, my specific values surely aren't going to be identical to someone else's... at least not in great frequency. And the more lab results posted, the more unique it becomes, especially if uncommonly tested things like ammonia are posted. At the very least, it would greatly narrow down the search.

Yes, this is true, but not a part of my threat model due to the way greater than/lesser than ranges would work in a search. You could modify values, but someone could just search a range.

If a lab company were hacked, the least of my worries is the test results. They’ve already got my personal info at that point.

 

[BigBaldBeardGuy]

Lab results can just be received electronically by email and you don’t have to worry about the stupid printer identification.

 

[Jet Labs]

Lab results can just be received electronically by email and you don’t have to worry about the stupid printer identification.

@Bork

BAZINGA MOTHERFUCKAAAAAAH

 

[Bork]

Lab results can just be received electronically by email and you don’t have to worry about the stupid printer identification.

This can be true. But if your doctor received them from another source and scanned them, or prints them and gives them to you, then no. Again, common in smaller towns whose tech hasn’t caught up.

And often times the pdf has sensitive information and meta data, so you don’t want to paste the whole thing here. With my electronic results, there are sensitive pieces of info in the meta data. A screenshot of the relevant info (while excluding personal info) is sufficient.

 

[MindlessWork]

This can be true. But if your doctor received them from another source and scanned them, or prints them and gives them to you, then no. Again, common in smaller towns whose tech hasn’t caught up.

And often times the pdf has sensitive information and meta data, so you don’t want to paste the whole thing here. With my electronic results, there are sensitive pieces of info in the meta data. A screenshot of the relevant info (while excluding personal info) is sufficient.

I convert the pdf to images and stripping out all metadata as well as redacting any personal info.

My doctor sends me the lab reports via pdf so that’s what I would do if I were to post any such reports.

 

[MindlessWork]

Digging deeper I did also find that the file name of the PDFs of lab reports sent to me uses my last name and patient ID # so I’d rename that to some generic name too.

 

[Jet Labs]

Digging deeper I did also find that the file name of the PDFs of lab reports sent to me uses my last name and patient ID # so I’d rename that to some generic name too.

Like Slappy McLongCock lol