Possible for someone to track you from a PDF?

[kytro360]

Hey so I downloaded a product on this website and the PDF said that they embedded tracking code inside the PDF to track if you shared the guide or not.

It went like this:

That?s why EVERY copy of this material is embedded with a unique tracking code that allows tracking of each specific ebook to a specific customer. Yes, I can track this copy of this book to you.

No, this isn?t spyware ? it?s a simple, yet brilliant, way for me to protect my property and yours. If you forward this material to a friend, and that friend forwards the material to a friend and that ?friend? posts YOUR copy of the material on a torrent site, then I?m going to sue you ? the person who bought the program ? for damages, which the law allows to be up to $150,000 and up to 2 years in jail.

Yes, you?re responsible and I can track your copy of this book to you using a special technology that embeds binary code in the words of this document. That means even if you change the format, unless you know which words to change (good luck) we?ve still got you.

Is he bluffing? I've never even heard of this concept before, and I feel like its a big drastic. What are your thoughts?

P.S: How would they even track us down?

 

[ReALeST]

lol duno about that but i do no u can bind a RAT to a pdf with backtrack and do more than just track some1

 

[seoactive]

then I'm going to sue you - the person who bought the program - for damages, which the law allows to be up to $150,000 and up to 2 years in jail.[/quote]

Unless that ebook is extremely expensive, i think he wouldn't bother sueing anyone for $7 - $10 per sale. Then there are other factors like whether if that person is on the other side of the world, or if the file is really being shared.. what if the file is stolen without owner knowing etc. All kinds of factors man.

 

[kytro360]

then I'm going to sue you - the person who bought the program - for damages, which the law allows to be up to $150,000 and up to 2 years in jail.

Unless that ebook is extremely expensive, i think he wouldn't bother sueing anyone for $7 - $10 per sale. Then there are other factors like whether if that person is on the other side of the world, or if the file is really being shared.. what if the file is stolen without owner knowing etc. All kinds of factors man.[/QUOTE]

I think this guide cost like 100 something bucks. Even though it said hes gonna sue the owner Imm delete it from my harddrive ASAP. Dont want to risk anything, I dont have that type of money being 16 haha.

 

[oobble]

Just copy and paste the text into your favourite word processing program and Viola! Supposed tracking device gone.

 

[Wilson Grant Fisk]

You can be tracked by meta-data but this sounds like BS. If he has embedded something then it can be removed.

Who was the product by ? They sound like a wanker.

If you could post the sales page and let me have a look, that would be cool.

Edit: Before you delete it, I would like to take a look.

 

[kytro360]

You can be tracked by meta-data but this sounds like BS. If he has embedded something then it can be removed.

Who was the product by ? They sound like a wanker.

If you could post the sales page and let me have a look, that would be cool.

Edit: Before you delete it, I would like to take a look.

http://affiliateblackbook.com/

 

[muscleteen]

1. Sounds like BS.

2. "I'm going to sue you - the person who bought the program - for damages, which the law allows to be up to $150,000 and up to 2 years in jail."

Basically, he's saying he'll sue the guy who actually bought the program. You said you just downloaded it from a website, so according to his lame "Warning", you are safe.

 

[seoactive]

Just unplug internet connection when you're reading. There is no way to track anything often. The connection is gone. Real offline

 

[Goal Line Technology]

kytro360
I thought that you had more sense than this,
of course it is OK, and it is from Mr X,
he is only trying to stop a lot of BS,
my advice,
chill and get on with your life.
Cheers for all your contributions

 

[bartosimpsonio]

Aren't PDF files capable of carrying some executable code in them? Like macros or something? Or was that accidental / due to a security hole?

 

[kytro360]

kytro360
I thought that you had more sense than this,
of course it is OK, and it is from Mr X,
he is only trying to stop a lot of BS,
my advice,
chill and get on with your life.
Cheers for all your contributions

LOL I know, Ive been at the blackhat game for a while but this is the first time I actually read a disclaimer and it freaked me out haha

 

[tresm]

He isn't going to be 'tracking you' or anything. I suspect that he watermarked it or changed the wording slightly for different people, so he knows who leaked it when a copy appears on the internet.

 

[Ash2012]

PDF includes support for Javascripts, and has doc object that can fetch a url, something like: app.doc.getURL so I guess you could send each unique copy to a separate url to track it, but it would seem like a lot of work for a shitty little $10 document.

If you want to be safe / sure just copy the poorly written pdf into a text editor, recopy that text into word and save as PDF removing any script that was embedded in it.


edit: Adobe Acrobat scripting guide here

 

[RedStain]

Give me a copy! lol. Just copy and paste it man then get rid of the file. That or snap shot it. You can then turn it into your own PDF.

 

[HelloInsomnia]

Of course it's possible:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/06/new-ebook-drm/

I am sure you can make it so each ebook is generated a little bit differently on your own or somehow include a string of characters in it, basically just figure out a way to give each ebook some kind of fingerprint and match that up to a database which would contain your transaction details.

I'm not saying that he is bluffing or not - just pointing out that it is possible if you are creative enough.

 

[The Scarlet Pimp]

this guy is john barker - a small, ex-army loudmouth who likes to talk tough.
he wrote "adwords blackbook" some years ago. it's a good book!

p.s. lawyers charge a retainer for taking cases like this. nobody is going to come after you for this.

 

[allply]

Just copy and paste the text into your favourite word processing program and Viola! Supposed tracking device gone.

I second that lol

 

[OldSalt]

It's easily possible and if it's done well, would be hard to figure out what it is. As HelloInsomnia said, all it would require is to change one section with a code that doesn't look like one. He could even use a unicode combination that looks like the text, but isn't. Could be done by computer to create the digital signature and record it for each sale. If he was motivated and REALLY wanted to do it... it could be legit.

And copying and pasting into a Word doc may not clear the signature if he was using words rather than characters (uniquely spinning a specific paragraph maybe?)

 

[Wilson Grant Fisk]

Well the funny thing is, it doesn't actually stop the product being shared.

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/member-downloads/580354-get-affiliate-black-book-x-127-a.html

And it is highly unlikely that he would be able to prosecute anybody that had purchased the product because he would have to prove that they did actually share it. The cost of which is prohibitive (unless you are a major film/music studio).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damages
His threats are meaningless so that makes me believe that he is a bullshitter.