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Why You Shouldn't Trust Geek Squad (networkworld.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: The Orange County Weekly reports that Best Buy's "Geek Squad" repair technicians routinely search devices brought in for repair for files that could earn them $500 reward as FBI informants. This revelation came out in a court case, United States of America v. Mark A. Rettenmaier. Rettenmaier is a prominent Orange County physician and surgeon who took his laptop to the Mission Viejo Best Buy in November 2011 after he was unable to start it. According to court records, Geek Squad technician John "Trey" Westphal found an image of "a fully nude, white prepubescent female on her hands and knees on a bed, with a brown choker-type collar around her neck." Westphal notified his boss, who was also an FBI informant, who alerted another FBI informant -- as well as the FBI itself. The FBI has pretty much guaranteed the case will be thrown out by its behavior, this illegal search aside. According to Rettenmaier's defense attorney, agents conducted two additional searches of the computer without obtaining necessary warrants, lied to trick a federal magistrate judge into authorizing a search warrant for his home, then tried to cover up their misdeeds by initially hiding records. Plus, the file was found in the unallocated "trash" space, meaning it could only be retrieved by "carving" with sophisticated forensics tools. Carving (or file carving) is defined as searching for files or other kinds of objects based on content, rather than on metadata. It's used to recover old files that have been deleted or damaged. To prove child pornography, you have to prove the possessor knew what he had was indeed child porn. There has been a court case where files found on unallocated space did not constitute knowing possession because it's impossible to determine who put the file there and how, since it's not accessible to the user under normal circumstances.
Shouldn't TFH be "Why someone who engages in criminal behavior shouldn't trust Geek Squad?"
That reminds me of the Apple store: had to replace the screen of a MBAir. The "Genius" guy asked me to give my password so that he can check "eveything is ok" after the replacement.. Nothing to hide there, but I only made him a guest user / password (was a replacement at no charge). Why the heck would he need to login?!
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
than their warrantless searches
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Anybody not wiping their device clean before sending for repair deserves what happens to their data.
GeekSquad is full of shit. Was away on a working vacation (being a remote employee who travels the country and logs in from wherever I happen to be at the time). My laptop died on a trip. Needed it replaced ASAP. Picked up a netbook from BestBuy locally, since shipping one would take too long. They were the only option in town where I happened to be at the time. The power supply on this netbook died in under a week. Took it in to BestBuy to replace the power supply. GeekSquad demanded a $40 "fee" to remove the hard drive from the netbook, and place the hard drive into a new netbook... Again, for a failed power supply, which is external to the netbook to begin with! They simply wouldn't replace the power supply, they claimed they could only replace the entire unit, and had to swap the hard drive. Fucking scammers. So much for the BestBuy "Warranty"
Kiddie porn on a computer doesn't imply guilt for the owner. He could have been the subject of a rick-roll type thing, via email or web, and quickly deleted the offending image, which he may have had no intention of downloading/viewing. It's not even close.
And, the individuals involved should be sued into homelessness for invasion of privacy, etc. Best Buy, too, to the extent they were aware and didn't prevent it.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
This one was a possible paedophile. Since it was only one photo, it was probably something sent to him, or from a popup on some random website.
What else do they look for? Credit card numbers? Tax records? Other identity theft info? Anything embarrassing they can ransom?
The other problem is they used a tool to scan unallocated space for deleted files. That takes time. Are they charging customers for that extra time?
...and with a few moments of searching the web, they could have a nice handy thumb drive full of images they would "detect" on some guy's computer, and get a nice little bonus from the FBI...
"Yeeeah, I found another one this week. Yup, it's surprising how many of these weirdos have computer problems and show up at my store. How soon does my check get here?"
Why is this such a surprise? Geek squad employees have in the past been caught stealing registration keys of paid software, installing adware, and etc. I begin to understand why Apple policy wipes the user's hard drive before repair and informs the user that they won't recover their data.
"Illegally searched his computer, get paid to find illegal material and HEY SURPRISE I FOUND ILLEGAL MATERIAL WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Lie to a judge to obtain a search warrant, etc. etc."
There's a reason we demand a certain level of ethics from our law enforcement professionals, mainly so that the cases they put together have even a slim chance of making it through a trial without being tossed out by even a barely competent judge. Did this guy have child porn on his computer? Who knows, the Geek Squad guys have so completely muddled the issue to line their own pockets with the FBI's help we'll never find out.
I often wonder if you "by any means" types would be so cavalier about situations like this if it were you under the FBI's lens.
You've never read the US Constitution, have you?
I have a second concern along the same lines . . . let us assume that the Geek Squad isn't engaging in shenanigans for profit. How are they inspecting my hard drive, and can they assure me that they won't cause a data loss?
my machines have bank statements too, but are inside a truecrypt container.
This story sounds as if it came out the old iron curtain Russia or pre-unification East Germany.
To go further (and invoking Godwin's Law) it is something you expect from the Gestapo, paying neighbors to rat out each other. WTF is wrong with the US these days?
Home of the free?
If the Geek Squad employees are being rewarded for finding this stuff while they working 'on the clock' as paid staff, does their employer have the ability to claim a percentage of the reward? After all the effort being made is being paid for by them and the staff are not doing this in their private time.
.
Editors, please do your friggin job. Think! Summarize!
Yes, he might be paedophile, or just someone who downloaded some file expecting it to be something else and deleted it immediately... hence it being in the trash.
Stories of people downloading stuff, either by direct download or P2P and ending up with something different aren't all that rare.
Even a few months ago there was a story of someone downloading what they believed to be Ubuntu ISOs (IIRC), only to find out they were pretty nasty hardcore porn.
And like the article says, would a person smart enough to be a surgeon be dumb enough to send the computer for repair with a third party knowing it had child pornography inside?
Onda Technology Institute
"they work at Best Buy" was a sufficient clue...
Seriously. How competent can they be?
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
Which is why if you do accidentally download something like that, you must clear your cache, empty the recycle bin and repeatedly overwrite all the free space on your disk.
Emphatically YES! Smarts in one narrow field doesn't guarantee smarts in every field: John Podesta is a Smart Guy, but he was stupid enough to fall for a phishing attack.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
It wasn't me officer! I was just trying to download some Linux ISOs!
Which is why if you do accidentally download something like that, you must clear your cache, empty the recycle bin and repeatedly overwrite all the free space on your disk.
Yes, because everyone knows how to do that. And of course, the commands to perform those actions are so easily available...
Emphatically YES! Smarts in one narrow field doesn't guarantee smarts in every field: John Podesta is a Smart Guy, but he was stupid enough to fall for a phishing attack.
It's not a "field", it's common sense. He doesn't need to be an IT expert to know that he's taking chances if he sends a knowingly tainted computer for repair. It's just pure common sense, nothing else.
Onda Technology Institute
"would a person smart enough to be a surgeon be dumb enough to..."
Yes. You've never dealt with doctors in a working relationship, have you? There are a large number who think that just because they have life-critical responsibility in medicine, it extends to mission-critical knowledge in all else.
Yes I have. Almost daily, actually. And I'm not talking about mission-critical knowledge in all else. I'm talking about pure and simple common sense.
Onda Technology Institute
Because four times last year, I repaired systems they said were unrepairable and had attempted to sell a replacement system.
They used to be tech, now they are systems salesmen
and actus reus is unasserted as well as mens rea.
if you invite anyone in your home then you deserve the same risk as a savage beast from Best Buy Geek Squad.
it boggles the mind why people dont know about Hiren's Bood CD or RIP et al. Education is for yuppies.
More like "Why you shouldn't trust the FBI"
Twinstiq, game news
If they're looking through all your files, who's to say that they aren't copying sensitive information from your computer as well?
Clearly they aren't acting professional. What else are they doing>
journalism majors can BS people into upsells and that is why the tech people where just stockboys.
The Geek Squad techs were, according to the article, "active informants" for the FBI, which is to say, they agreed to be beforehand. That means they are agents of the government, which means they are under the same restrictions as the cops. So if you think it's OK for Geek Squad to search your computer without a warrant, you believe it's OK for the cops to do the same thing, because it is the same thing.
Aside from that, the FBI did additional searches without warrants, like to get warrants, and apparently continues to hide evidence. They claimed the informants told them they (the informants, that is) had "accidentally" run the carving software that was, in no way, involved in repairing the computer, and found the image. So either the informants (at least one, and likely all three) lied to the FBI under penalty of perjury, or the FBI agent getting the warrant perjured himself to the judge. Or both.
There isn't an FBI agent involved in this case that doesn't belong in prison for corruption. Same for the prosecutor, at this point, because it is long since possible for him to not be aware of the FBI's corruption.
Best Buy is the least guilty of anything, and apparently, according to the update at the bottom, actually have policies prohibiting their employees from accepting any kind of reward for reporting this stuff. Whether or not they'll fire the employees named (there are three) for doing so remains to be seen. They are correct, though, that once they become aware of child porn on a computer, they're required to report it.
For at least 250 years, it's been known that, "common sense is not so common."
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
Just such an account from 2008 http://www.kevitivity.com/geeksquad/
They are all out to get you. Better stop browsing /. too. It's very likely to be losing cp into your computer's cache as we speak. (Yes, I know, you are probably one of those weirdos that use an FOSS browser, disable cookies and delete all session files every time you close the damn thing. Better be safe. Fascists everywhere.)
If I'm into child porn then I should be regularly having my computer serviced by Geek Squad.
When I get busted I can now blame that they planted it to receive a reward?
If they sent the FBI images of his patients...
Because they illegally search you computer thus showing an incredible lack of ethics.
The outcome of the specific case is immaterial.
seriously the only news here is that they are now officially on the payroll, if you take your computer to best buy you deserve what you get, planted evidence for money broken computer you have to pay money there is simply no reason to ever give your computer to geek squad
Absolutely. Since the dawn of verbal communication, I'm fairly certain that almost every single one of us has realized just how uncommon it is- after all, we're the only ones who have it.
You can analyse validity of warrants and question the admissibility of evidence all you want, but that overlooks a fact: Most prosecutions don't go to trial. They end in plea bargains. Sure, that particular evidence might be unusable - but the fact that the FBI knows about it may well be enough to get the suspect to confess anyway. The particular example in the article did lawyer up and fight it, but how many times has a similar story happened that didn't become interesting and public enough to get noticed?
While I do not adore Best Buy nor do I really like the company that much, after having put in more than 8 years into Geek Squad and 2 years being a manager, I see a lot of misconceptions going on here...
The Geek Squad department is THE most regulated retail department of the company. Everything about Geek Squad is CYA (cover your ass); from the rules, to the procedures and tools. One of such procedures and tools is that when doing data backups or transfers you are only supposed to use a certain dedicated, pre-issued system to do so. This system is locked down quite nicely so that all it can do is run an in-house program (I forget the name) to copy files from medium to another and the program does not show the contents of the files, only the file names and directory paths.
It is SOP (standard operating procedure) that if a Geek Squad employee sees a file name that raises legal suspicions to contact their manager. Through all of the various repair and data services that they offer, the employees are exposed to a lot of personal data (as is any technician).
As of my departure of the company in 2011 as a manager, BBY did not offer any rewards for reporting illegal activity. The rewards (as you're all well aware) were offered for SALES.
If you haven't noticed, BBY is a retail store with a service shop. Their main revenue comes from product sales. The business model is to charge moderate to high prices for services which will hopefully entice you to buy new systems, while also gaining service revenue (low overhead) for transferring the old data, user setup, etc.
BBY, like any other business, is trying to make money. To expect them to fix your computer for free is stupid.
Disclaimers:
I can't speak for all stores and each store is essentially up the decisions of their local GM (general manager). (No, calling corporate doesn't do shit.)
Many of the Geek Squad employees are not knowledgeable enough to work in computer repair anywhere else, while others are over-qualified (multiple master degrees, etc.).
YRMV (your results may vary)
I'm only posting as AC since it's been so long since I posted that I don't remember my login or what e-mail I registered with.
We have common sense in the areas we care about. Not so much in areas we haven't given much thought to.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
The basis for them is scientifically questionable as there is no clear scientific evidence that child porn leads to rape. Of course that doesn’t matter as it's a totally fear based law. The same is true for the sex offender list. You ever wonder why it's mostly filled will drunk college students and minors? It's because sex offender doesn't correlate with violence being used. When the law makes people guilty of something without there being any intent to victimize or even any victims there is a serious problem. That is exactly what the case is with these sorts of laws. While I don't like the idea of child rape banning child porn does nothing to stop child rape and there is no consensuses or scientific basis for equating paedophilia with child rape. There is less than 1% chance that a first time child porn offender has ever raped a child and the recidivism rate is also less than 1% unless there is other prior criminality. In other words people whom are prone to violence are the ones who rape- not people attracted to children except for some small subset- just like it is true for adult-on-adult. Yikes!
Why are we filling our prisons with a bunch of perverts who aren't even a threat! I can tell you. It's religious bigots and politicians. The homosexual is politically unacceptable so they're just moving targets to a smaller minority which is even more defenceless than gays were in the 1950s. On the contrary most child rapes are that of parents, friends, and people who *know* the child. And there are almost no serial murders as the media would have you believe- they come about once every gazillion years they are so rare.
There is evidence that pornography being readily available reduces rape though cause we have statistics that show that when pornography was legalized rapes went down, and then back up- when re-criminalized, and then back down again when legalized once more. I forget the country this study was done in, but it doesn't really matter. Point is unless you can show that paedophiles somehow differ from the general population in terms of rape there is no reason to think child porn will lead to rape. If we don't let emotions get to us it actually would make more sense to have some sort of government entity produce it in a similar manor to hollywood style violence. That way you have rapes go down AND no kids are harmed in the production of such disturbing content. In fact violent sexual content is probably more important than any other as it gives those whom are prone to violence (which may not be all those who view violent content) and outlet for that.
What stops these shitheads from writing anything to disk for purpose of claiming reward?
What's that? Oh, you mean that crumpled piece of paper our politicians wipe their ass with?
Yeah, I read it. Boy, it sure was a good laugh.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
No, you shouldn't. The law should adapt and know that it is clearly not possession if that happens. The law must be there for the people. The people are not there for the law.
Because what if I send you a nice wallpaper of a green hill and use steganography to put an image of childporn in it?
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Warrants are for any property that isn't in plain view to someone working on behalf of law enforcement. Since the FBI had already contacted this person and offered $500 if they found any child porn, they were working on behalf of law enforcement when they investigated the contents of the unallocated space on the drive. (unless the computer was brought in to recover deleted files)
Your comment and mine are not mutually exclusive.
Having said that... get over the fact that child porn is pretty high up there on the public revulsion scale, and prosecutors salivate at the prospect of convicting such a person. People remember the perp walk and the mug shot, not the dismissal.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
The action constituted an unauthorized search and seizure. The case should be dismissed.
Originally, someone who planted evidence for profit was called a 'witch-pricker'.
Why does child porn get special treatment? Politicians have worked overtime to include piracy and drugs in the war on terror too. So expect everyone without a professional registration body enforcing client confidentiality, to be spying for the DHS (anti-american, terrorism), DEA (drug-use), BATFE (guns), IRS (income), or FBI (piracy, child porn, etc). The East German Stassi got it wrong when they made people spy on their neighbours.
Emphatically YES! Smarts in one narrow field doesn't guarantee smarts in every field: John Podesta is a Smart Guy, but he was stupid enough to fall for a phishing attack.
Yeah, the lesson I took from that is pretty simple and clear: DO NOT READ EMAIL AT 4 AM WHEN YOU ARE NOWHERE NEAR IN CHARGE OF YOUR FULL FACULTIES. Not sure why Podesta hadn't already figured that one out.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
Don't trust the Geek Squad!
Use the Nerd Herd.
I would think that they offer the same deal to any computer repair shop. They can certainly take advantage of it even if the FBI doesn't inform them of the program directly.
BBY doesn't pay for turning over the kiddie porn, the FBI does. Did they not tell you about it when you were there? They told me at Staples, and that was in 2000.
Maybe they should be named the Geek Police Squad? Well after all, at least you'll know what your in for..
I wonder if users are smart enough to replace the hard drive, with a new hard drive, that has nothing on it but an operating system.
You'd be CRAZY to take your computer to them. You'd be crazy to take your computer to ANYONE, unless you can watch them. ANYTHING on your hard drive will be checked...COUNT on it.
He thought Delete meant Delete.
The basis for them is scientifically questionable as there is no clear scientific evidence that child porn leads to rape.
Well...there's pretty good evidence that child rape leads to child porn. Best not to incentivize its creation.
.. that I have yet to talk to anyone with a 'Geek Squad' shirt that knew what the hell he or she was talking about.
Does anyone that reads slashdot need geek squad to fix their computer? Seems like this "warning" really only applies to a small reader segment.
Child pron is NOT illegal because it supposedly leads to rape. Child porn is illegal (in the U.S.) because children have to be sexually abused in order to create it. At least, that is the justification which the Courts have given for allowing this suspension of the First Amendment. I actually support that logic.The problem is that things which do NOT involve the sexual abuse of children are labeled as child porn and are thus illegal. While I consider all child porn to be disgusting, any publication which did not require sexual abuse of minors to create should not fall under the legal categorization as child porn.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
It lacks the following information:
-Unbiased Summary
-What "work" the laptop was taken in for
-What requests did the professor make to the technician regarding his/her laptop
-FBI reason for requesting a warrant
-Statement from technician regarding "discovery"
-Had the FBI ever contact Geek Squad to request assistance
-Had Best Buy management requested technicians to perform searches
So far, all I see in the shameful summary as posted is an attempt by a shamed professor to try and pass blame on the FBI rather than admit his guilt.
Consumption of something creates demand for it. If governments were to grant child pornography free speech rights then it would result in an increase in children being raped. Unlike something such as alcohol where nobody is being raped to make alcohol.
Geek Squad tends to be predatory on their customers and constantly upsells based on fear of what is unknown to the customer. I can undercut them significantly, still make money, and not resort to dirty tricks.
BBY doesn't pay for turning over the kiddie porn, the FBI does. Did they not tell you about it when you were there? They told me at Staples, and that was in 2000.
He's just quoting the rule book, and not what the managers of the Geek Squad actually tell people unofficially. I have a friend who worked Geek Squad part time just to get all the free junk from Intel that Geek Squad members became eligible for. The unofficial policy at his Geek Squad was to look through everything, find everything, and make a copy of anything your fellow coworkers might enjoy looking at. I actually wanted to work there part time as well. Not to steal peoples nudies but because my friend was getting a free $300-400 SSD or a new CPU from Intel about once every 3-4 months.
For the purposes of this chapter, the term—
(1) “minor” means any person under the age of eighteen years;
(2)
(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), “sexually explicit conduct” means actual or simulated—
(i) sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex;
(ii) bestiality;
(iii) masturbation;
(iv) sadistic or masochistic abuse; or
(v) lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person;
(B) For purposes of subsection 8(B)[1] of this section, “sexually explicit conduct” means—
(i) graphic sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex, or lascivious simulated sexual intercourse where the genitals, breast, or pubic area of any person is exhibited;
(ii) graphic or lascivious simulated;
(I) bestiality;
(II) masturbation; or
(III) sadistic or masochistic abuse; or
(iii) graphic or simulated lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person;
(3) “producing” means producing, directing, manufacturing, issuing, publishing, or advertising;
(4) “organization” means a person other than an individual;
(5) “visual depiction” includes undeveloped film and videotape, data stored on computer disk or by electronic means which is capable of conversion into a visual image, and data which is capable of conversion into a visual image that has been transmitted by any means, whether or not stored in a permanent format;
(6) “computer” has the meaning given that term in section 1030 of this title;
(7) “custody or control” includes temporary supervision over or responsibility for a minor whether legally or illegally obtained;
(8) “child pornography” means any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where—
(A) the production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
(B) such visual depiction is a digital image, computer image, or computer-generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or
(C) such visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
(9) “identifiable minor”—
(A) means a person—
(i)
(I) who was a minor at the time the visual depiction was created, adapted, or modified; or
(II) whose image as a minor was used in creating, adapting, or modifying the visual depiction; and
(ii) who is recognizable as an actual person by the person’s face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic, such as a unique birthmark or other recognizable feature; and
(B) shall not be construed to require proof of the actual identity of the identifiable minor.
(10) “graphic”, when used with respect to a depiction of sexually explicit conduct, means that a viewer can observe any part of the genitals or pubic area of any depicted person or animal during any part of the time that the sexually explicit conduct is being depicted; and
(11) the term “indistinguishable” used with respect to a depiction, means virtually indistinguishable, in that the depiction is such that an ordinary person viewing the depiction would conclude that the depiction is of an actual minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. This definition does not apply to depictions that are drawings, cartoons, sculptures, or paintings depicting minors or adults.
I shall make this even more simple for you:
(8) “child pornography” means any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where—
(A) the production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
(B) such visual depiction is a digital image, computer image, or computer-generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or
(C) such visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
I'll make it even more simple for you: The FBI didn't have a case, knew that they that didn't have a case, but pursued this to muddy the
waters regarding what actual child pornography is. That is to say that the FBI doesn't care about obeying the law. They just want to try to prosecute
into existence more restrictive laws. Hello, the FBI does not make the law. The courts do not make the law. The Executive Branch does
not make the law. The US Congress which writes the law: that is the people most in tune with the average joe are the ones that the
Founding Fathers decided should write the laws. Funny concept that, ain't it.
I believe the legal logic is that a child cannot give consent to be in pornography ( or agree to a contract ) so the assumption is some kind of coercion.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
"Why You Shouldn't Trust Geek Squad"
Ummm, because they're a bunch of ninnies who couldn't pour piss out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel?
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
got creation date?
So why then is simulated child porn also illegal? (Eg animations, paintings, barely legal people pretending to be children)
....you have nothing to fear.
I think it was Joseph Goebbels who said that. Totally someone the USA needs to emulate.
I didn't realize that it was until just now. Excellent point, what I said is apparently not the only motivation, seems more in line with the ACs points.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
Luclily I live in a country that believe in innocent until proven guilty and to protect that innocence and does not make mug shots public.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Ten years or so ago, my son worked for Best Buy for three or four years. He told me he thought about trying for a job with them... until he found out their job was NOT to repair things, but to sell you more things.
Find a legit computer shop. The one on the corner, or in the Mall, is likelier to be better, safer, and cheaper.
Scandinavians and those of other small Northern European countries believed they lived in a happy, tolerant, socially cradle-to-grave protected society, and regularly mocked the US for being cruel and hard-hearted to the down-trodden. Until waves of immigrants flooded in, and now they're cutting programs.
Point being that maybe your country isn't as perfect as you think it is.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
It's not a "field", it's common sense.
It's not common sense to know that if you delete something from a computer it can still be recovered. It's something that some people are aware of, and some aren't.
Haha, yea, he's just going to google "how do I hide the cp I accidentally downloaded."
Though getting my money back has been, uh, diffcult. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
--- The American Way of Life is not a birthright. Hell, it's not even sustainable.
He wasn't just stupid, he was ignorant in an area vitally important to his job and the country. One of his passwords was "P@ssword" sent over plain text. Another of his passwords was "Runner123", crackable by a dictionary attack in seconds. He also used "Runner5678", also easily crackable. He obviously reused passwords, hence his twitter account was hacked after his apple ID password was leaked. He didn't have 2 step authentication switched on. He used open wifi hotspots on public transport, and as we all know he fell for that phishing scam. He very nearly became part of "President Hillary's" cabinet, possibly Secretary of State. I don't know what areas he's smart in but he sounds like an idiot to me.
Don't trust ANYONE with your data, christ. Google that shit and learn to fix it yourself >_>
What's to say that the Geek Squad isn't planting evidence..?? Seems like it would be worth it for them to do so; since it could net them an easy $500 per report..? I would never take a computer there, and I would never buy a computer from Best Buy ever again.
-Myke
As I wrote earlier this morning, we only have common sense about stuff we care about.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
That can be modified.
They might screw up my Linux partitions.
If you give your keys to a contractor for him to perform some work in your house, don't you have the common sense to predict that if he's there alone, he might be doing more than just the work he was supposed to like browsing through your stuff including your garbage?
Onda Technology Institute
I thought we were talking about giving one's computer to someone to fix. That's certainly what I was talking about. And if you're trying to suggest that it's common sense to know that deleting a file makes it no more gone than putting something in your trash can does, that's exactly the claim I was disputing.
Shift - Del the files /w::\
cipher
done.
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
I was establishing a comparison between the two. If you KNOWINGLY had something on your computer you know you shouldn't have and send it to repair, you're incurring in the same risks. I can't imagine someone as a surgeon not having even the slightest hint that such a thing might happen if he had something to hide.
Onda Technology Institute
Sorry, are you arguing with someone else? I was never disputing any of that.
Perhaps you have something relevant in your Google on illegal search and seizure?
Yes, but if someone who doesn't know much about computers deletes something, then they DON'T knowingly have it on their computer. They think it's gone.
Laws vary. Some laws specify that CP has to involve an identifiable victim known to be under 18 at the time. Some laws are far more encompassing, and ban stuff that never did involve a real child.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Why? Cause it's porn! I just image everyone's HDD before I do shit, and then go over it later at home. When I find porn that makes my dick hard, I beat the fuck out of it like it owes me money. It'll eventually cough it up. I do it to your cellphones too. I don't work at bestbuy, I'm an independent house-call repair guy. I can copy all your shit while you sit right next to me and watch, and you have no idea what the hell it's doing. If you were smart enough to figure that out, you wouldn't be calling me to fix it anyway. And in case anyone cares, conservative, religious republitards have the sickest and youngest porn. They're hypocrites as we all know.
I used to be one of the tech's that does virus removal and hardware upgrades in the back. There was never a policy to look at the hard drive to find something to send to Law Enforcement. It might have been at the particular store, but it is in no way common practice. We did have a guy come in with a CD still in the computer. The CD had a name and the age of 12 on it. We knew it had porn because it auto played when the computer loaded, and it showed the files in thumbnail view. We immediately called the police and they came and got the computer. Turns out it was a guy that law enforcement had on their radar, and this just confirmed it to them. We never saw the computer or the guy again.
Oh, now that pisses me off. I never got anything nicer from Intel than a Pentium Pro keychain (a factory discarded cpu in lucite), and that was back when I worked at Electronics Boutique. I also got to go to some US Robotics product presentation where I got a free external 56k modem. I didn't get shit when I worked at Staples, but here's the Geek Squad (a name that I find insulting), barely competent, overcharging like crazy, searching private data, and getting all these free toys!