[brbsix]

There are a number of occasions where I need to print copies of things that I wouldn't feel comfortable doing on a public printer (bank records, tax returns, 2-factor backup codes, paper copies of private keys for crypto wallets, gpg).

[KMnO4]

I found an interesting service provided by HP called "Instant Ink" [0]. You pay a subscription and get a fixed number of pages per month. Once the printer is low on ink, they'll automatically send you a new cartridge.

What makes it interesting is that there is a 100% free tier that offers 15 pages per month: perfect for infrequent use.

0: https://instantink.hpconnected.com/

[ljoshua]

I've been using Instant Ink for a couple years now and quite like it. No more late night runs to the store hoping they have the one random cartridge I need. And I have only once run through ink so fast that I found myself without a waiting cartridge that had been previously shipped.

We do a lot of printing in the home right now with virtual schooling for my youngers. Watching them try to complete math assignments (this is early elementary, mind you) on a tablet interface is a frustrating experience, and in my opinion hinders their ability to actually learn the relevant skills. Printing the assignments out on paper and having them use a pencil is both faster and gets them into a learning mode better.

[zmix]

Thanks a lot! I didn't know this existed! And luckily, not just in the US. Sadly, they don't offer something like this for Lasers, as it seems.

[usr1106]

I see your point.

I don't remember when I needed to print anything for a bank or the tax office. Certainly not the last 10 years. That probably highly depends on the country. And I did not have any big transactions like buying a house during the last 10 years.

I don't even own crypto currency. Amongst other reasons I don't want to worry in my private life what can go wrong with shitty IT...

The question really is, should you trust presumably a lot of closed source software while printing on internet-connected systems at home? Or even unmaintained open source software. Or open source software that you have not studied. Yeah, I can see some risks, but overall my local library is not known for their cybercriminality skills. So as long as I make sure that I delete my sensitive files ASAP after printing I would not be overly worried.

If I print at work, I at least definitely know that there are several people on the same local network / with admin rights that would have skills to do evil. So even that could be considered risky. But still I do print stuff there (rarely, but it happens) that I would not be comfortable to share.

[usr1106]

To elaborate on that, my local library has a pretty dumb laser printer. I don't think it has the memory to store many pages and no significant internet-facing functionality (apart from accepting files if they configued it badly). So I don't think there are significant risks sending my documents thorugh it.

But the city main library has some smart "document center" machine. Amongst other it can "print to pdf" for the paperless age. In other words scan. And send the results to an email address you enter on the touchscreen. Here I would be pretty worried what insecure operating system and software that machine is running. I wouldn't be suprised to read a headline on hackernews that the last 1000 pages printed/scanned on such type of machine are all publicly accessible on the internet...

[lukaszkups]

100% this. This is the main reason why having a printer is a must-have to me.