Protip for everybody:

www.truecrypt.org

It's free, easy to use, and works like a charm.

Reputationally

I'm afraid we won't be able to put any faith in this article until the photos in question are posted as proof that this happened.

Why are people still using Geek Squad?!?!?

Well, I have to say that the guy was wrong, admitted it, and the woman is suing for what I feel is a valid amount for the scale of the problem.

Seems like both parties are acting correctly following the mistake.

@sgodun: Because not everybody has a friend or family member who is a computer geek. They bought a computer at a place like Best Buy or Circuit City and the only way they know to get support is through a service like Geek Squad. Sad, but true.

I think conceptually this is a good idea. But data encryption requires you to make sure you have a methodology for when your drive shits the bed. This also assumes that you're smart enough to have a secondary drive where all your data is encrypted. If you're going to Geek Squad, you pretty much don't have enough computer experience to pull off even this rudimentary step.

@IphtashuFitz: As someone who worked for what later became Geek Squad many (10+) years ago (Best Buy PC Tech) I'll tell you if it's anything like it was then, it's a mixed bag. Some guys are great, some are horrible.

Unfortunately, the same goes for local guys, so "go to a local mom and pop shop" is not always an option, either. We'd always get machines cannibalized by the little shop down the road, after being charged hundreds.

Any city large enough to have a Best Buy surely has one or two mom-and-pop PC repair operations. Believe me, they appreciate your business.

@satoru: Good point, Sartoru.

I encrypt and archive. I keep forgetting that the average Joe doesn't understand the concept even of backup. Sad.

"this is hardly the first time Geek Squad has been caught stealing porn from customer's computers" Who said it was porn? Maybe it was art.

@IphtashuFitz: Thankfully my parents have someone semi-technical to help them. I'm hundreds of miles away so I can do some basic stuff remotely. But just last week my mom's entire computer shit the bed so I had to order a new one for her. Without her tech friend I would have had to walk her through installing a JAPANESE Windows XP. I can barely figure out what's going one when I can see it via remote control. :P

pics or it didn't happen

@akyiba: These days I think people think art is pretty much porn! The whole Miley Cirus 'SCANDALOUS' picture thing just tells you what a gigantic puritan whacko Christian society we live in.

@akyiba: The woman isn't filing a copyright lawsuit or asking for court intervention to get her "art" back.

@tcp100: Yeah we're doing data encryption at our work now and it's still a pretty complicated process. We've also needed to heavily document and test the installation, and restore procedure. The last thing you need is some jackass VP who never does backups, has stored every email they've ever received from the dawn of time, and then tell them all their email is lost because we encrypted their drive for 'security reasons'.

@satoru: Yeah, those billboards were so arty!

Another one for the Book of the Dumb. He isn't sorry. He is sorry he got caught. Dumb-ass.

For $50k, Best Buy can surely see some *ahem* "revealing" photos of me.

Call me, Geek Squad.

Best Buy, and geeks in general are "reputationally" ruined for good, due to this guy.

@akyiba: I'll know it when I see it. Porn, not art. Art confuses me.
@kabuk1: You are not a nice person. And also wrong.

@satoru: Dude, she's 15, little kids watch her show... Missed the point, much?

@satoru: "These days I think people think art is pretty much porn! The whole Miley Cirus 'SCANDALOUS' picture thing just tells you what a gigantic puritan whacko Christian society we live in."

I'm sorry, a 15 year old girl should not be posing in sexually suggestive pictures. Blame the Christian Right if you want, but you'll find the population as a whole frowns upon sexually enticing photos including minors.

And before somebody says it - "Artistic" my butt.

@kabuk1: If they copied her credit card information and social security number onto various computers, would she still be a dumb bitch? We have no insight to this person's background or know the nature of the photos. Back off.

I bet they settle this out of court pretty quickly.

The one time I should have used Geek Squad and I missed the bus.

"I realize I will be disciplined, and fully expect it, but I do still wish to continue working for Best Buy on the Geek Squad"

I very rarely type this unless I actually do it in person, but

LOL

@kabuk1:

That's really not the point. The point is that they have no business copying your files. I suppose to verify a backup was successful you could go into a folder to see if the files are there, but there really is no need to go file-by-file, or to go into "My Pictures" and use "display as thumbnails." I never worked for Geek Squad, but I did work for IT on my college campus, and we NEVER were allowed to browse through customer files.

@unklegwar: "If there are no photos, it didn't happen" is dumb. There's a written confession. What more do you want?

I think she needs to go after the guy for copyright infringement too. Although her pictures weren't registered copyrights, the moment you take a photo it's your property under law. I'm a photographer myself by hobby and I know I'd be including that in my lawsuit. Throw the book at them -- that's the only way this will change.

@kabuk1: While I would say it wasn't the smartest thing she could have done, it doesn't mean she deserved what she got. There's a difference between some horny kids checking out your naked pics and intentionally copying them off her computer for future titillation. Why so damn angry?

@Buran: I think unklegwar is joking. Because the pictures are of a mostly-naked lady, he wants to see them. Jokes really aren't funny when you explain them.

I like the how in the evidence, one of the techs state "he was searching for pictures, when he found the thumbnail..."

WTF are they "searching for pictures" while working on the customers computer?

If the original perp didn't "search for pictures...", then this whole thing would not of happened, but since it appears that every geeksquad member "searches...", they should bust the whole lot of them...

GeekSquad is a joke...

What kind of idiot keeps nude photos on their computer and then willingly hands that computer over to a stranger?

common sense anyone?

@bananaballs: She's mad because every woman on earth that takes provocative photos is a whore and whores should be burned at the stake, naturally. Raaaaaaage!

@kabuk1: Or maybe her computer wasn't working and THAT'S why she had to take it to Geek Squad. Not everyone is able to back up and delete sensitive information before their computer crashes. Even if that didn't happen, she hardly had an obligation to assume her privacy would be violated. Its not just that he copied her photos, but his incompetency in doing so led them to be copied to other people's computers. $50K seems awfully small considering what happened, frankly.

And he says he wants to continue working for the Geek Squad???

hmph...

Can we also remember that the vast majority of people aren't going to be able to fix their computer when it breaks? Yes, in this case, the "property" is digital. A simple, but maybe not 100% accurate, comparison would be if your car broke down and you happened to have some revealing photos in the glovebox or console and the mechanic swiped them. You'd be pretty pissed because the guy had no right to go through your stuff in the first place. I mean, what relationship is there between fixing a faulty Mass Air Flow sensor and the glovebox? It's the same with fixing a problem with the operating system and the "My Documents" folder.

I think the lesson here is to put as much stuff on your computer to tempt BBY's Geek Squad agents into copying it so you can GET PAID!

Also we need to see graphic evidence of this case ;p

@kabuk1: @bobblack555: I was going to say it but, BStu already beat me to it. Maybe her computer was jacked up, and thats why she couldn't delete her photos before she took it to geek squad (the guy said he "believes" she was there for a backup, I'm guessing it was probably more than that). I feel sorry for her, she deserves some moolah.

Some people have little or no other choice than to use Geek Squad. And if they don't have an external hard drive or back up device, what do they do? What if the pictures are on their computer, but they can't boot it up to remove the pictures before sending it out for repairs. You shouldn't HAVE to worry about some tech snooping through your personal files, be it photos, or bank statements or Income Tax returns. People keep all kinds of PRIVATE information on their computer and I think an environment that fosters this kind of breach should be held responsible.

@InfiniTrent: Best Buy and the Geek Squad's reputation were ruined long before this happened. I'm not all for blaming the victim here, but really, when you drop off your computer to a bunch of high schoolers and college kids who just happen to know a little bit more about computers than the guy over there selling CDs, you take your chances.

There are very few computer repair shops that do a good job... The problem is that consumers don't want to pay enough for repairs.

Someone who can reliably diagnose every computer problem is going to cost more than many computers are worth.

I repaired computers in college, and quickly dropped residential service. The customers didn't want to pay enough, and cleaning up the crap took too long.

Now I program computers and run servers. I will never go back to desktop support where the pay/abuse ratio is way too low.

Unfortunately, it's hard to know what a good computer repair place is if you don't have a computer-savvy friend who can give a referral. And I don't think you should "expect" your personal data to be stolen simply because it is stored in something you've asked someone to fix. If someone is doing repairs on your car, that isn't a carte blanche for them to empty your gas tank.

Everyone calling the young woman an idiot for storing the pics on her computer: Do you store anything on your computer that you wouldn't want someone else to see? Personal e-mail, browsing history, financial records, account numbers? Those could be stolen just as easily by a repair person.

The problem with storing anything on your computer is, when it breaks, you don't have the option of cleaning off the crap you don't want others to see before you have it repaired, because it's broken.

People should have some expectation of privacy on their computers, even from a repair person. The fact that you have access to everything does not mean you have the right to access everything.

/IT professional

Isn't there some type of code or ethical training for certified repair technicians? Or is the 'geek' squad simply that:geeks and NOT certified repair techs.

I don't use these big company repair services.I found a local shop that is cheaper,quicker and more helpfull.I've bought a computer from Best Buy then went to a local shop-must of saved about 50$ on software alone AND they offered to install for free.Stuff like usb cables were 15$ compared to 20$ from BBY.Best bet find a local shop

But is she hot?

Seriously, I think she deserves more. Maybe then Best Buy will take such things very seriously.

@SacraBos:

The law suit was actually "in excess of" $50,000, so the title to this story is misleading.

@kabuk1: Maybe she couldn't get the computer to power up, which is why she took it there in the first place?

I have a laptop currently in a repairshop for the same reason.

Unfortunately for the repair geeks, I do not have any naked photos on the laptop.

Yes, in a perfect world she should have saved those pictures elsewhere, but that doesn't mean that the Geek Squad guy should have taken them; it's called stealing. The people who say the victim's at fault for not removing the pictures are wrong. One could say she's at fault because the one rep working on her computer saw the picture. She's not at fault, however, for the GS rep stealing her pictures, saving them and ultimately disseminating them to countless people, including customers.