What is a canary trap?
A canary trap is a counterintelligence technique that is used for exposing spies. Suppose you have four people in positions of trust, and you think one is betraying you. You entrust each with secret information, but you give each a unique version of the information. If the information later shows up in the possession of the enemy, you know who to put on trial for treason. This technique also might be usable for privacy issues. Suppose you give your address to organizations or companies A, B, C, and D, each of which promises not to share the information with junk mailers. Your real address is 123 Pine Road, Anytown PA 17002. But you give organization A the additional line, “Attention Department 1,” Organization B “Attention Department 2,” or something similar. Then if you get junk mail addressed to “Department 2,” you know that Organization B has not respected your privacy and has sold your address to junk mailers. You can treat Organization B accordingly (discontinuing purchases from t
