When you need to drop off your tech devices for a repair, how confident are you that they won’t be snooped on?
CBC’s Marketplace took smartphones and laptops to repair stores across Ontario — including large chains Best Buy and Mobile Klinik — and found that in more than half of the documented cases, technicians accessed intimate photos and private information not relevant to the repair.
Marketplace dropped off devices at 20 stores, ranging from small independent shops to medium-sized chains to larger national chains, after installing monitoring software on the devices. In total, 16 stores were recorded. (At four stores, the tracking software didn’t log anything, or the stores didn’t appear to turn the devices on.)
Technicians at nine stores accessed private data, including one technician who not only viewed photos but copied them onto a USB key.
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It’s like this in the states, too. Had the same scenario with a battery replacement. “You don’t need the password to make sure the battery works.” “But we need to unlock the device to run diagnostics.” “I’ll unlock it for you and we’ll run them together” “No” “oh okay… The password is 0000, call me if it doesn’t work and I’ll unlock it for you and we’ll run diagnostics together!”