Computer techs are perverts huh?

Bloggers are not legitimate news reporters.

oooo burn!!

/defending legit techs everywhere

Zentex, if you think bloggers are not legitimate news reporters and you read them that makes you an idiot.

Zentex, if you think bloggers are not legitimate news reporters and you read them that makes you an idiot.

if i was working on a hot girl's computer i would definitely search the drive for pictures of her. i've done it before and found some of her at a beach (nonnude)

This is why people should have a friend/relative they trust help them with the computer issues.

@Squeezer99: That is a horrible breach of trust.

@Squeezer99:

...I think you just provided a proof to the thesis of this article.

I do IT for my school. The topic of looking at customers' pictures actually came up, and one of my coworkers admitted to searching one girls' documents and finding pictures of her taking it in an unusual (as in not the first choice) orifice. Guh-ross He's not the norm, this is not the norm. 99% of the people I've worked with at this job would never dream of looking through a customer's files, unless we had been asked to back up a particular file. It makes me sick.

@zentex: I'm a computer tech and I'm plenty pervy...just...not at work.

"stiff" competition... tehehehe

@Triterion: penetrate....tehehehe indeed.

@Squeezer99: Just do your damn job and quit looking through people's stuff, you unethical turd.

@savdavid:
Even if he really felt that way, why would that make him an idiot? I don't think The Onion is a legitimate news site but I still read it. Does that make me an idiot?

Wait, why am I even arguing this? It drives me crazy when people use ad hominem personum as the basis for their arguments.

@WraithSama: Ironically, that's an ad hominem attack on people who use ad hominem attacks. Sorry, totally made my day...hahaha.

Thats why I format my HD before I send it back to HP...

Reinstall Vista.

But, my laptop never leaves the US.... Well, I think it doesn't and it shouldn't. Going from NC to CA.

@Squeezer99: Yeah, there's really no excuse for that. None. I work with a bunch of horny college boys who do computer repair, and I've only known two EVER who have purposely looked through customers' documents. These were guys I didn't have any respect for to begin with, you can only imagine how I feel about them now.

@katstermonster: I hate to say it but seeing as I used to hire techs and have fired them for just this behavior, copying of files is far more common than anyone lets on. It is wholeheartedly a failure to lay minimum expectations for your bench and a failure to supervise. As noted above if they are copying photos, the tech shop is opening itself to much greater liability with financial data, etc.

@dohtem: i've been that friend who is trusted... i don't want to look at all the things on my friends' computer either but if you keep the porn as a wallpaper slideshow it's hard to avoid. so i just quit working on friends' computers

@fantomesq: I agree entirely. But we work in VERY close quarters and backup media is hard to come by (even when we need it for legitimate things), so I can say with 100% certainty that only one other person I've worked with in 3 years has done this. Heck, one of my less uptight coworkers was embarrassed and freaked out because he accidentally opened the My Documents folder and saw a Word document with a slightly racy name.

@Triterion: lol, Ben really tried to pepper this one with puns.

Very much appreciated!

I'm glad Spud from Trainspotting has found his calling as a TV news reporter.

@catastrophegirl: My job has a clause in our wavier that if we find the background or screensaver to be offensive, we retain the right to change it. I like to change it to "My Little Pony." Or anything with rainbows.

heh not uncommon.

in the UK, the singer 'Gary Glitter' was caught when he put his PC in for repair and the techs found child porn.

on the one hand.. good that he was caught.

on the other hand. hang on, why were they going through his files?

(the police nicked the scumbag...)

You shouldn't HAVE to worry about this kind of thing, but techs are only human, and sometimes curiosity takes over. Take all your sensitive stuff off before sending it in, or better yet learn how to fix it yourself. It's the easiest thing in the world to download & run antivirus & antispyware programs. Frankly & no offense, but I think less of people who pay someone else to do such simple things for them...

@kabuk1: Frankly and no offensive, I think very little indeed of people who are willing to take money from others to help them, and then scorn them for that help.

@dohtem: Totally agree with you, though a friend/relative isn't always possible. Still, I'd find and pay a kid from around the block who really knows computers before leaving it at a Best Buy or equivalent.

Don't want to pay some perv or hacker tech for time spent trying to invade my privacy.

@katstermonster: Kaster, its quite possible your bench is the exception. I tried to keep mine as such. More power to you! Its just far too easy for a tech to slip a flash drive in and you can't really deprive them of the tools then need to do the job in the name of securing the data.

You wouldn't leave anything in your car when you bring it to the repair shop. The same goes for computers. Just because you assume a certain standard doesn't mean you're going to get it. And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they just put up some disclaimer like in laundromats 'Not responsible for viewing of private data' that gets them off the hook anyways. Yeah, it sucks, but that's the world we live in.

@savdavid: You had to respond in both places to make sure people read you? Or did you just make a mistake?

Because either one makes you an idiot. ;)

P.S. - Some people like reading blogs because they're funny or in some way informative, not because they are "news."

@mythago: Hey, if they're stupid enough to ignore their virus protection and open that email it warned them about and net themselves a nasty case of computer-syphilis, then why the hell should I laud praise on them? Why should I reward incompetence?

I'm sorry, but after the 5th time they open the same virus-filled Viagara scam email and call me, even their money isn't worth it anymore.

I honestly think that this is one of those 'like masturbation' situations: You're a liar if you say you don't, and a fool if you say you do.

@Squeezer99:

Jerkwad

@DeusPayne: Yeah, but that's not that great an analogy, since the computer's whole purpose is to store this kind of thing. Frequently, people are getting repairs/service because something broke and they can't access their files anymore.

@katstermonster: hi

@katstermonster: Just as a curiosity, does that really qualify as ad hominem? Whereas savdavid was attacking OPs character, Wraith questioned the validity of doing so.

I've been a computer tech since 1989 and when someone asks you to back up their important files you have no choice but to view them to make sure the backup is valid.

Have I ever snooped around someone's HDD? Yes, I have. But I had a valid reason for doing so. If you are going to label your gay porn boy14.jpg I am going to view it to make sure it is not child porn. Have I ever copied personal information from someone's HDD for my personal use? I have not.

People have to remember that when you turn over your computer for repair you have no clue what I might or might not do. I might look at your favorites, I might look at your documents and I might look at a folder that seems to be out of place. I might even review your pictures but I have no desire to make copies of anything on your HDD.

People need to remember this simple rule.

If you don't want someone to see it. Do not take a picture of it nor make a video of it. Also do not save your usernames and passwords for web sites of any sort.

Some of use techs do have ethics. I'm one of them.

@liquidnumb: Hmmm close enough. It's ad hominem against ad hominem...not that it isn't deserved. Heh.

@enthreeoh: Hi?

@fantomesq: Nah, I agree, it totally happens in a lot of places. When I say 100% certainty, that may just be wishful thinking...but it's a close enough and small enough work environment that it'd definitely be difficult to pull off. And the two guys that did it? I wasn't surprised when I heard, it totally fit their personalities. If I had any say, they would have been fired for two dozen other things (the least of which being, you know, not showing up for work).

@KhaiJB:
When working as a tech if you come across child porn you have to report it. I've seen it while running virus scans that list the files it's scanning. You'll see a bunch of racy titles flash across the screen as it scans. When they all start with #Age<18 doing... it's tough not to notice.

@Squeezer99: Don't you have work to do?

@FDCPAGuy: still the same as above. reading someone elses files.....

@ShirtNinja:

Exactly.

I do odd IT jobs for my moms friends & I recently quit helping one woman because of this very reason. She kept having problems with spyware & browser hijacks. She was one of those people who shouldn't even be allowed to own a computer- she clicks on every ad, opens suspicious emails, thinks she's REALLY won the lottery in some other country, and downloads every set cutesy IM icons she can find. One time I spent 4 hours cleaning up her system, and the next day she called my mom to bitch that her computer was "doing it again" & that *I* didn't fix it right. So I go back, and find out that she's got the same exact same spyware that I cleaned off the night before. Surprise surprise- she installed those fucking icons AGAIN even though I SPECIFICALLY told her not to. This was the one time in my life where I pretended to not know what the problem was so she'd quit asking me to help her.

The IT field can be very frustrating. The majority of people are idiots, and the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink", is more prevalent in this field than any other, IMO. You can spell out precisely what people should NOT do, and they will wait till you leave just to do it.

@dohtem: What if your friends and relatives are all perverts?

@NotYou007:

I agree. I'd rather be nosy & catch a pervert than pride myself on respecting their privacy.

I would imagine that it's actually pretty common for techs to skim over people's files, just to make sure there's no kiddie porn or bomb recipes.

I'm sure there are ethical techs and non-ethical techs the same as in every profession. But to be on the safe side, why not use a decent encryption program for sensitive data (with sensitive being however you want to define it).

It is important to remember that if you're paying a professional to do data recovery... you WANT them to test the data (everything!) recovered. It happens often that while pulling data off a failing drive you may get some corruption within a file that could be recovered completely if you try again. If the file is not readable, you try copying it again and see if you get the whole thing. If your tech does nothing but a 'copy/paste' onto a backup drive and does not look at your files you have paid for nothing more than a roll of the dice. You might get data, and maybe you'll get corrupt garbage, and you won't know until he has already wiped the drive completely and tossed it into the garbage.

Is there some risk of losing financial data? Yes. Keep it encrypted at all times. Is there risk of losing 'racy' or otherwise private pictures? Yes. Keep them encrypted at all times if you're worried about those.

Otherwise, if you want a technician to recover your basic family picture album ... you want them to view them.

@KhaiJB:

Actually reading the names of the files is different from reading files but believe what you want to.

Highly offensive title to anyone who is a computer tech.

@NotYou007: Why stop there? Perhaps you could read their email and IM chat logs to make sure they're not breaking any laws. Maybe you could even check to see if all the the music on their PC wasn't pirated. While your at it, install WGA to make sure the OS is legit too.

@joshuadavis: How does the large number of posters reinforcing this stereotype make you feel?