Talk:Canary trap

Why canary trap? --Abdull (talk) 14:04, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

:Canaries were testers in mines. A caged canary was carried into the mine and if it died, the air was obviously unsafe. It may also come from the phrase "sing like a canary." 86.179.119.153 (talk) 11:00, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

:: The latter makes much more sense. I don't see how the coal-mine canary would be relevant. Equinox ◑ 06:09, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

:Not at all improbable but I think there's an older, simpler and more direct source for the term. I have heard, in the 1970s, in casual conversation with students of former intelligence personnel (e.g. Paul Blackstock) that it referred to a practice of using different colours of stock for memoranda in one of the uses of the method during WW2. Both seem perfectly plausible I suppose. I think that at least after the computer era your assertion more likely (there weren't as many carbon copies of memos by that point). The older version was based on the fact that carbonless memo copies were made on 'Canary Copy' colored paper. The WW2 era use involved producing slightly different hues or colors to identify each recipient's copy. Carbonless copy methods of the time distinguished recipient by color (e.g. "Carbonless paper was used as business stationery requiring one or more copies of the original, such as invoices and receipts. The copies were often paper of different colors (e.g., white original for customer, yellow copy for supplier's records, and other colors for subsequent copies).") So it's pretty easy to see why a method distinguishing copies might be referred to as a "canary trap'. Whether the term pre-dated the Computer Era version, or was initially based on a technical accident (the color of the papers used) or the idea of the 'canary in the coal mine' (a plausible, if not entirely clearly apt, I agree the 'sing' version is much more logical) analogy, it's pretty clear it's been attributed broadly, at least over the past couple decades. Given the story I heard in the 1970s and its provenance to the 1940s, with specific reference to the carbonless copy term ('Canary'), my money is on the older version having been first. 'Canary Copy' was a way to assign a specific copy to a specific recipient. So naturally the term was perfect for naming a technique of preparing slightly different materials to distinguish each. I suspect the technique, per se, substantially predates the term 'Canary Trap'. I think the term originated in the time and context of 'Canary Copy'. As for the technique itself, I suspect it's about as old as written language. 66.116.108.129 (talk) 20:50, 9 September 2024 (UTC)

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...according to a few sources, e.g. Jonathon Green's jargon dictionary Newspeak (1984). Equinox ◑ 06:06, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

Admittedly, I don't know much about the particulars of british politics, but after reading the Guardian's article sourcing Andrew Lewer's firing (in examples section), I'm pretty sure it's not the same guy as the MP whose page is linked. The article mentions that the fired Andrew is a home office private parliament secretary, not an MP - so my understanding is that he was some kind of aide? Also, can an MP really be fired? Aren't they elected? DommageCritique (talk) 09:49, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

When I heard Dr. Paul Blackstock use that exact term, for exactly the same basic approach to tracking information 'leaks', in the mid-1970s in courses at the University of South Carolina.

I the the sentence should read "The term was used by Tom Clancy ...". Of course this then begs question of relevance. Did Clancy's use significantly contribute to the popularity of the term enough to merit note? 66.116.108.129 (talk) 20:37, 9 September 2024 (UTC)

The term is more interesting as a example of how terminology is determined by the characteristics of technology. The term 'Canary Trap' originated from the common name for a 'Carbonless Copy' the first distinct copy of which was in a color named 'Canary'. So a technique that was adopted in espionage to prepare multiple distinct versions of information (text) was named after the (then) common term for a way of creating multiple copies of memos distinguished (by color) for each recipient. The technique is older than the terminology, probably far older.... But the name originated during or shortly after WW2 and was based on then common name for the way specific copies were made for specific recipients. 66.116.108.129 (talk) 21:34, 9 September 2024 (UTC)