Beware Your Trail of Digital Fingerprints

[Berserker]

This is very interesting. I send a lot of word docs. Check some of your word docs. It gives out some info you may not want others to see.

IT hardly ranks in the annals of "gotcha!" but right-wing blogs were buzzing for at least a few days last week when an unsigned Microsoft Word document was circulated by the Democratic National Committee. The memo referred to the "anti-civil rights and anti-immigrant rulings" of Samuel A. Alito Jr., a federal appeals court judge who has been nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bush.
The stern criticisms of Judge Alito rubbed some commentators the wrong way (Chris Matthews of MSNBC called it "disgusting" last Monday). But whatever the memo's rhetorical pitch, right-leaning bloggers revealed that it contained a much more universal, if unintended, message: It pays to mind your metadata.

Technically, metadata is sort of the DNA of documents created with modern word-processing software. By default, it is automatically saved into the deep structure of a file, hidden from view, with information that can hint at authorship, times and dates of revisions (along with names of editors) and other tidbits that, while perhaps useful to those creating the document, might be better left unseen by the wider world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/07/business/07link.html?ex=1289019600&en=98e0af709a0795f4&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

[I Have A Dream]

1. Very interesting! n/t

[Berserker]

2. It's also has some good uses

This is how they nailed Dennis Rader AKA the BTK Killer. He sent a Word Doc on a disk to the police.

[Pool Hall Ace]

3. This is why I always first convert to a PDF

but I see that may not even be foolproof.

[Gman]

4. I click properties and take out anything I don't want there

unless I want credit for it and want to make sure I get it.

[Berserker]

5. I have been using word

for years and did not know anything about this. :argh: