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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.
Ok so when you need some plumbing work at home, why shouldn't you trust the guy and have him visit all rooms, open all cabinets, and let him check your pending invoices to be sure you paid everything on time?
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
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?"
"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.
No, I don't mind. Because I don't have any illegal drugs or child pornography for the plumber to find.
What about the illegal drugs and child pornography that the previous occupant left hidden in the wall, next to the water pipes? You know, the ones you now have to prove aren't yours?
And how do you do that with a computer with solder-in SSD (e.g, MBAir)?
It makes me wonder how much Tumblr porn came from Best Buy uploaders.
Perhaps none.
Maybe they're all great people.
But they vacuum machines for reward money, or at least a few of them have, says the article. Most of them are probably great. But a few of them have sullied the reputation of the Geek Squad, perhaps beyond repair.
The big problem: a lot of good people at Geek Squad get besmirched for the actions of some greedy fellow employees. It would seem that management likely knew about this. What protections do they provide their customers? They should spell it out and enforce it. Data is money, assets, and pretty private stuff.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
Greek Squad are incompetent, dishonest morons. THAT'S why you shouldn't trust them.
Well, you didn't. But for $500 some kid at Best Buy might put some on your computer for you.
You sick pedo fuck.
Where is your name? Are you trying to hide something?
Exactly. The bigger issue is that they are looking through all your files. The number of people who have nude pictures of themselves or other people legally far outweighs the number of people with illegal pictures. This means that the guys at Geek Squad will definitely lookat the nude pics of their customers. Even the ones that were intentionally deleted by people before they take their computers in for service to prevent such a thing.
If this is not a violation of privacy then what is? Why are they looking in the first place if they usually only find legal stuff? What do they do with the legal nudes they typically find? Do they also shows those to the other FBI informants/repair monkeys they work with? Or maybe make personal copies?
Shouldn't TFH be "Why someone who engages in criminal behavior shouldn't trust Geek Squad?"
What about if you have legal adult naked videos/pictures of yourself having sex with your wife? Do you want the teenage geek squad employee to look through those videos/pictures too? After all, he would need to look inside those videos/pictures if he wants to ascertain what they contain.
Not only that, but he's looking at the deleted files too. So even if you or your wife deleted that content, he will be able to find it. The same goes for your phone. I assume the FBI has the same deal with cell phone repair technicians. Do they also look scan/watch all your pictures/videos including your deleted ones too?
And at Best Buy during work, how does it work if a manager catches an employee going through the private videos/pictures of customers? Does the manager give the employee a free pass if the employee offers to split the FBI reward with him? Or does the employee need to make a copy of the hard drive to bring home to review at home at his leisure? How does that work exactly?
journalism majors can BS people into upsells and that is why the tech people where just stockboys.
You trust strangers every time you hand someone your credit card or read the # over the phone. You trust your bank with the history of all your credit purchases. You trust other strangers when you hand over your car keys to the garage or a valet. You trust them when you give them your house keys so they can inspect something while you're at work. You trust, not just one doctor or one nurse, but an entire health care organization with your medical history and details when you go into a hospital to get a checkup or sick care.
People have to live their lives.
But my doctor isn't paid $500 by the FBI if he "finds" a balloon full of cocaine up my ass.
Not really...
A single file was found in deleted space on this guy's machine, was he truly a criminal who intentionally sought out illegal material or did he have this single file on his machine through no fault or intention of his own? (eg browser cache, malware, spam etc)
At the very least, i'd expect someone who was actively looking for such material to have a lot more of it than just a single deleted file.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
I worked at best buy both in computer and geek squad.
I can say with certainty that everyone's computers were searched for music, videos, jpg, etc (so they could be backed up allegedly)
These "backups" were definitely shared with other techs in the event of anything interesting was found which most often was the case.
Customers usually had tons of photos, music, etc. Most of the time it didn't include illegal stuff so though. I know one of the stores I worked at had a huge library of pilfered mp3.
I would never ever have over my desktop or notebook with a live hard drive in it. I would send it in with it removed.
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?
You trust strangers every time you hand someone your credit card or read the # over the phone (...)
You trust the professionals to whom you request a specific service (and usually you pay) to perform that specific service. You don't ask them to look for interesting files, have the illegal ones reported, and some other legal files not reported but used illegally by them.
First off... Geek Squad are IT professionals in the same way a burger flipper at Micky D's is a chef. They aren't.
Secondly, I sure as hell would not leave a plumber I didn't know well alone inside my home... With access to my valuables. Said plumber may be a consummate professional... but he's still some random I don't know.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
No, I don't mind. Because I don't have any illegal drugs or child pornography for the plumber to find.
Exactly what are you afraid of them finding?
There are currently over 10,000 federal statutes. Can you say, categorically, that you are not currently breaking any of them?
Ignorance of the law is not a defense. It is entirely possible to be breaking a law and have no idea you are doing so. Still want to let people, who are looking for wrongdoing, nose through all your stuff?
Anyone arguing that those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear really needs to reexamine their assumptions.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
Great. It should only require a few years of dealing with tough-on-crime prosecutors and judges to make use of that, whilst your name is being publically dragged through the mud.
Yes, exactly. Only people who have little first-hand experience with law enforcement or the courts would think that being innocent will make things easier. An innocent person can easily be bankrupted and have their lives altered by having to defend themselves against the criminal justice system.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
Buddy, if I have to check up your ass for anything, somebody better pay me $500 AND take me out to dinner