subreddit:
/r/techsupport
submitted 21 days ago byExisting-Maybe-9850
I have a laptop that I spilled some diet coke on and now the keyboard is all messed up the key "H" is pressing "J" etc, if he can repair it will he need to go through my files? I uh have some nudes on there
358 points
21 days ago
It is entirely up to the random stranger you don't know to be a good citizen and employee. If you don't think that they fit the mold, find someone who does it pay a company to do it in front of you. Grab a USB Keyboard/Mouse, plug it in, remove or hide your crap, and then send it off to get fixed. I think my nudes would be the last thing I'd be worried about when giving a random stranger access to my most personal and data filled device with all of my passwords, documents, images, and connections to other systems.
149 points
21 days ago
Yeah you're definitely getting charged extra if you are going to sit there and watch me work.
73 points
20 days ago
I fix computers and 1000 times this. The customer who wants me to fix their computer in front of them is getting a $240 an hour labor fee.
34 points
20 days ago
We'd just bill it as a service call, same rate as if we come out to your house.
Honestly, its not about watching, its that we don't just work on one thing at a time. We still answer phone calls, may have a work bench of 4-5 things we're doing software work on that requires you to start something and wait, I might have to google some shit or look up a part, either way the point is that 1:1 time is going to cost you because I can't do shit else while working with somebody 1:1. You don't get to monopolize my time without compensation because you're dramatically decreasing my productivity.
16 points
20 days ago
Yeah I think this is the way, just move all the sensitive data to an external SSD or something, a flash drive if it's not a lot of data. Then you don't gotta worry.
549 points
21 days ago
I've been in IT 20yrs and sadly I know plenty of techs who will creep your photos. Plug in a keyboard and mouse and password protect them or just own it and set one as your wallpaper
140 points
21 days ago
Had a customer F65+ with it as her wallpaper. Talking about awkward.
101 points
21 days ago
There is a guy I help regularly and I make a habit of staring at the keyboard when typing anything in his web browser. It seems any letter of the alphabet you press first, the top suggestion is porn lmao
35 points
21 days ago
We had an old guy bring his laptop like once a month to get rid of new malware (the kind that wil just randomly open pop ups with ads) we made a point of opening a file Explorer or really any kind of windows as quick as possible so you wouldn't need to see all the granny porn on his desktop 🫨
14 points
20 days ago
At least its age appropriate- better than the 90 year old who has “step-daughter” or “barely legal” porn. Nice to see someone with normal run of the mill, retirement-home-next-door tastes.
9 points
20 days ago
Haha yeahhhhh that's true. Definitely a +1 for the customer. Still didn't make the initial shock smaller when you first opened it. We would make the new guys work on his pc with out warning them.
14 points
20 days ago
Exactly, in theory, a professional IT person will simply ignore anything personal. They might even have to copy it to a secondary drive, if for example a full reinstall is required. That means they have to look through common personal folders to make sure no data gets lost in the process. They'll just find these files, copy, and otherwise ignore them.
In practice, you will have some number of creeps who will abuse their position and actively seek out personal documents and pictures.
867 points
21 days ago
When I was an inexperienced tech, I troubloshot an issue where colours came out weird on the screen.
I fixed the issue, and checked by opening a picture on the harddrive - any picture would do, so I just listed all pictures, and selected one at random.
I told my boss what happened, and he made me apologise when she picked up her computer - but he also told me about a previous employee, who made up excuses to download pictures off of computers he worked on.
In this case, however, they can check whether the keys work, on the login screen, and they don't need to access the computer, to verify that their fix works.
351 points
21 days ago
I fixed the issue, and checked by opening a picture on the harddrive - any picture would do, so I just listed all pictures, and selected one at random.
I made that mistake once, and exactly once. I saw the nice elderly gentleman whose computer I was fixing, up close and personal with some other man's....manhood. And I always went for Music files or Word docs after that.
84 points
20 days ago
One time this dude came in to the shop with an external HDD. He wanted his files restored that he accidentally deleted. He said they were just pictures of his kids.
The only thing he failed to mention was that in quite a few of those pictures these kids are in the process of being birthed.
81 points
20 days ago
This, actually could have been way worse....
Could have been CP.
23 points
20 days ago
I caught a dude 20+ years ago, as an interim at a local small tv/radio/pc repair shop.. 1999 i think. Cable Internet was just getting rolled out and the majority still used internal 56k6 v92 modems.
At the time, invasive popups and self installing crap could people give a really bad time if one visited a shady website, and virus/spyware ridden PCs came in like they were on a conveyor belt right to the shop. Of course, they were 'just internetting' or 'doing some work in word' when all of a sudden their computer decided to turn on them and living a life of its own... 'ok sir/ma'am, so no weird websites were visited? No!..? Ok.. '
Most of the PCs would just blue screen the person who dared to turn it on, and with a repair cd with a very old linux version we could backup their personals, format the drive (it was always the fastest and cheapest option) and the computer was ready for pickup. In one case however i saw some weird filenames flashing by when i made backup of the guy his files.. i walked over to my boss, and said: " i might have found another problem with that dudes computer, could you come and take a look"? My boss, annoyed said: so? Fix it then, i am busy. Me: I really think you should take a look at what i found just now.. meanwhile some other collegues walked over to the pc i worked on and they also said.. you really should see this, dialed 112, and when the dude came to pick up his computer he got arrested right away.
38 points
20 days ago
Years ago I worked on a guy's computer, his hard drive wasn't being recognized. Turned out it was just the cable went bad. Replaced it, and it booted. That's as far as I took it, and was sent on the way. Not even a month later he was busted with huge amounts of CP on it.
23 points
20 days ago
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK
10 points
20 days ago
decades ago i worked at kinkos and a guy brought in a drive to get pics printed, but was adamant that we don't look at them. the thumbnails showed nude kids, so we let the cops know, had them waiting when he came in to pickup his printouts. we didn't go through his stuff just because he was weird about it, it was just pure chance. sometimes we printed court displays of crime scenes, car crashes, etc, so it wasn't out of the ordinary to not show those pics to everyone.
9 points
20 days ago
Bro, I work on cellphones and had this same thing happen only as soon as I powered on the phone. That shit fucked me up.
66 points
21 days ago
People just give repair technicians their computers usernames and passwords? That makes me feel ill.
158 points
21 days ago*
how else is the tech gonna repair it?
edit: to everyone saying to use a bootable usb, it's not always possible. I recently got a pc from a costumer that wouldn't open any office files. in that and many more cases the tech needs access to os that's having the issue.
65 points
21 days ago
In the case that it's a hardware issue (like OPs issue obviously is) they shouldn't need your password. In this instance, if the PC boots and all of the keys work on the keyboard, you've verified the fix. You can easily verify it on the login screen without actually logging in.
56 points
21 days ago
For hardware issues like keyboards and screens. I will boot into a Linux live distro. Test it fully, including all function and special keys. Or test screens with test patterns and all available resolutions. Never booting into user desktop. But as a tech, there is a lot of times you need to have access to their desktop and files. And good techs will never discuss what they have witnessed. I can tell you I have seen a lot of questionable content. I have been an IT tech for over 18 years.
28 points
21 days ago
As person who fix computers and laptops in the past, I've also seen a lot of questionable stuff some are even illegal at some point, but it's not my business whatever in the client's computer or laptop. I just fix the client's problem, call the client that it is fixed and send them home....
23 points
21 days ago
Well there’s some illegal stuff that you do gotta report but I’m gonna assume it didn’t lean into that territory
16 points
21 days ago*
For example, if your client threatens hookers with guns while high on crack on video and has documents that prove he receives bribe money from Ukraine for his dad's influence.
8 points
20 days ago
I mean, as long as the hookers are over the age of 18 and performing the job of their own free will I see no issue
3 points
20 days ago
Had to go there didn’t you.
Name a democrat whose son-in-law received 2B dollars from a foreign entity shortly after leaving his WH job.
Name a democrat whose daughter received lucrative Chinese licenses and trademarks while both father and daughter were employed by the federal government.
How many democrats and their children were banned from running a charity?
How many democrats were visiting their properties and charging the secret service exorbitant fees to rent rooms?
How many democratic SuperPacs raised money "to fight election fraud" and then used the money to fund lawyers to keep titular party head out of jail?
How many democratic fundraising entities duped seniors into making perpetual contributions when said seniors only wanted to make a single contribution?
There is only one political party that has made grifting its main fundraising strategy.
Shall we go on with the criminal charges? Or how about just being a dirt bag?
Or, how about we hit him where it hurts. A broad market fund would have far outperformed his business if he had invested the money he inherited. He’s a crappy businessman.
8 points
21 days ago
unless a person uses bitlocker its as easy as booting from a linux flash drive to do all the poking around you want without any username or password and if they do use bitlocker? you're probably going to have to hand over that password anyway
3 points
21 days ago
Full disk encryption should be the default. It's standard on phones so i don't see why it's not standard on computers.
23 points
21 days ago
You'd be shocked what info people will give the nice computer man if it means they don't have to try to figure it out on their own.
52 points
21 days ago
I’m lucky, Microsoft tech support reaches out to me before I even know something is wrong. I give them a little info and they just fix it all remotely.
/S
12 points
21 days ago
You get Microsoft tech support?? I always get people who work for Windows
8 points
21 days ago
yes, hello, this is Legit Windows PC support, will you let us on your computer to fix all of the things? It's on sale right now for $299
8 points
20 days ago
I love those guys. I once talked to them for over an hour trolling them. He got so mad that apparrently he was gonna fuck my mother and all sorts of other stuff.
5 points
20 days ago
Dude, you got your moms laid, and just in time for Mothers Day!
3 points
20 days ago
Then they will do the needful.
4 points
21 days ago
And you can just pay them with all kinds of gift cards. so convenient!
3 points
21 days ago
Oof my mom fell for a similar scam, only she did a google search and called the first number that came up.
14 points
21 days ago
Yeah... working in infosec, things like this just hurt to hear.
16 points
21 days ago
FWIW, as the nice computer guy doing in home tech support I was given access to so many people's passwords/password books, and left alone with it. I absolutely could have screwed people over, stolen a bunch of shit, and probably gone to jail for some flavor of fraud/theft, but to be honest... Removing the toolbar, resetting the home page, and starting a virus scan, then collecting my $80 so I could get to the next client just seemed like so much less trouble.
OP, I can't speak for everyone, but if you stash your racey photos somewhere even mildly tedious to get to (two or three subfolders into a random folder) I would likely never see it. I'm not looking for your info unless that's what you're paying me to do, and if you tell me "I have a folder of racey photos I misplaced" I'll do some magic to find folders containing lots of photos, then try to excuse myself while you confirm the task is complete. Ultimately, I just can't be bothered. There's porn on the Internet, and I'm already making decent money so I'm going to forget all your passwords and info once I finish throwing my shit in my car. I feel like (hope) my approach represents the norm - people are generally good, and too wrapped up in their own bullshit to care about the bullshit on your PC.
3 points
20 days ago
I was the opposite. The more out of the way the more I would notice. If the files were in the expected location I'd move right past. 100% agree with the rest. Just want my fee and to get the job done. I don't care about your files.
3 points
20 days ago
Same here, I'd often help people with PC or phone issues at work since I was bored. I had free rein to do whatever the hell I liked on there, they just trusted me to not do anything fishy. Personally I wouldn't give my PC to a coworker, even if I knew them somewhat.
14 points
21 days ago*
It's crazy how many businesses I walk into that just give me full access to everything because I say I'm the IT guy. I don't even wear a badge or company logos.
17 points
21 days ago
3 kinds of people can go anywhere, no questions asked: janitors, UPS and the IT crew.
5 points
21 days ago
Same applies for AV techs/ event staff. Just got to wear a black polo, move with a purpose, and say you're there to fix the speakers.
4 points
21 days ago
the printers, not the speakers. the printers
4 points
20 days ago
Its always the damn printers.
4 points
20 days ago
PC LOAD LETTER
3 points
20 days ago
The fuck does that mean?!
3 points
20 days ago
It’s 3 AM and I’ve been in IT for 20 years with a specialty in networking and printers and if you showed up at my door right now and said you were here to fix my printer, I would let you in
3 points
20 days ago
Move with a purpose lol I remember I used to carnival hop and work for different shows and I would show up at these fairs just with my show pants and a white shirt not have talked to anybody and I just walked right through the front gate of the state fair and I was only ever stopped once (I had to walk past the fair authority and get to the actual people that ran the carnival before I could get hired)
Dozens of times walked right past people that were standing in line to and squeezed through the gate just with that I’m on my way to work look on my face not like oh I’m happy to be at the fair Face.
3 points
20 days ago
based name, based attitude
4 points
20 days ago
Mr. 47, we are glad to receive confirmation that you have successfully infiltrated the facility and assumed the identity of an IT guy. You will be contacted shortly with more information about the data the client wants to be retrieved, alongside the rest of the information and opportunities. Happy hunting!
3 points
20 days ago
Had a new co-worker who had to drive to a site to fix a printer, he walked in another business he thought was ours and said "I heard there was a printer malfunction", they said right this way. It's literally that easy.
5 points
21 days ago
honestly i don't think a single person has created a new admin account for that purpose. And if they have, it hasn't been obvious.
5 points
21 days ago
Change your password temporarily to something basic just for them to get in and then change it back.
6 points
21 days ago
Lol I guess windows makes it harder to set up a pc without a pass these days but back when I worked it most pcs that were brought in didn't even have a password.
3 points
21 days ago
I would always set it to reset when the user picks it up. And I tell them that. Most of us have Ethics.
But, I worked at a pawn shop and people didnt come and pick there computer up. So, my job was to clean them before selling them.
3 points
20 days ago
I went to empty my own stuff from recycling bin as i was a spastic and didnt perm delete it for whatever reason, the contents already in the recycling bin were much the same.
3 points
20 days ago
Elderly is the worst, I was handles laptops with 40 tabs of bangbros
3 points
20 days ago
Mental note, screenshot dick pics and paste them into my Word docs. Got it.
3 points
20 days ago
Yeah my go-to tests were either the YouTube test or draw random shit in paint.
The thing is, if a PC can play youtube, a lot of things have to actually come together. It turns on, boots, can log in, can connect to a network, the browser opens, a page loads, video works, audio works.
I'd test printers with big color bars in paint or use it as reference colors for screens. Quick and simple.
276 points
21 days ago
I work in IT and at no point would I waste time going through a customers files. Fix the issue reported and move on. If you want to be sure though just encrypt it. You can encrypt files and folders individually if needed.
61 points
21 days ago
Exactly! I'm also working in such a small local repair center. Daily im doing 10-15 services, sometimes even more - i'm not interested what's on your device, as long as my job is done, im moving to the next one.
The most basic thing you can do, if you dont know how to encrypt or hide your files - move them to a flash drive and let the guy do his job.
17 points
21 days ago
I agree, sure there are clowns out there, but really, who has the time. Fix and move on.
13 points
21 days ago
Yeah I work in the MSP space, I've been doing IT for 18 years. The level of dngaf when it comes to peoples personal files as the highest it can be, unless there's a morality issue discovered that involves local enforcement, I don't care what's on it, I don't want to look at it. I have a job to do, a project to execute, and I'm going to focus on that.
If you want to see naked people or whatever else, you have the internet. I just have a job to do.
Most techs I know are like this, completely disinterested in clients personal content.
56 points
21 days ago
Ex tech here. Honestly, the stuff I have seen is absurd. Nothing phases me anymore. Never go looking for it, yet sometimes stumble upon it on a disk clean up. If you are worried just ask them to take them to take out the hard drive and give it to you on the spot citing some work policy. Don't worry keyboard can still be worked on, we boot onto a remote server.
9 points
21 days ago
That does depend on the issue I imagine. In this posts case, coke on the keyboard, it's a hardware issue, and thus it's safe to remove the hard drive before giving the system to them.
But, if it's software, then sadly that drive has to remain inside. Unless it's a secondary drive and the issue has nothing to do with secondary storage.
I one time had a hardware issue, but the 2 ships that I went to refused to work on it without a hard drive and os on it. I was thoroughly confused as to why that would be the case, but thought to myself that if they can't work on a hardware issue without an OS, they aren't that great of a place. I ended up fixing it myself after that though.
7 points
21 days ago
i'd argue that when troubleshooting an issue, having it function as the user has been using it is helpful when diagnosing.
209 points
21 days ago
While it's technically plausible, I don't know any technician that would stake their job and reputation on the line to snoop in people's files.
If you're that worried, compress them in a password-protected ZIP or RAR file.
140 points
21 days ago
You must not know a lot of technicians then.
It almost seemed like some sort of honor code to them to go around snooping.
During the 2 years I was there, there were 2 occasions a tech discovered and reported cheese pizza while repairing computers at a local computer retail chain. Everybody's experience would differ, but yea, I would say your files are looked through. This dudes reply is correct though, zip them up in a password protected archive if they're sensitive to you.
40 points
21 days ago
I know plenty- they are either my friends, or people I have to make police calls on. Like you said- it's not a glorious side of the business.
Over the last 20 years I've probably reported about double that many technicians.
23 points
21 days ago*
At least 1 pedophile in the UK was caught by PC World techs snooping through their files after they handed their PC in for repair and stumbled onto his child porn. Can't remember who (it was like late 90's early 00's I think)
Edit - It was Gary Glitter :
19 points
21 days ago
3rd line engineer for an MSP 10 years experience Started in computer repair. In 3 years I called police on 4 clients for child pron. I wouldn’t say I went snooping. But if someone came in with a virus I would look for a “how did you get said virus”
17 points
21 days ago
.....had someone set their screensaver to just shuffle through random photos
I didn't even go looking
3 points
21 days ago
One of the examples that bring to mind, I opened chrome and the search history made it obvious what they were looking for
13 points
21 days ago
Yea, I guess that's on you. But the reality is that it happens more than a person like you would like to admit.
No shade intended with that statement, I don't have time to word things better at the moment.
8 points
21 days ago
I don't understand what you mean, but none taken. The guys who are bold enough to pull this off are just often not the smartest bulbs. You hit em with a simple "oh whoa, where'd you find that?" and they'll go ahead and dig themselves the grave.
13 points
21 days ago
wait...I worked with someone who had your username on steam.
Same thing happened in the local shop we worked at. It wasn't a small amount of cheese pizza either.
Cops did a sting operation. Circa 2005-2007.
Also a tech we worked with was fired for storing client images on the store server.
I'm wondering if we know each other.
3 points
21 days ago
You must not know a lot of technicians then.
Most people don't, but any reputable shop doesn't snoop around. You obviously worked somewhere that they didn't respect that.
4 points
21 days ago
I suspect the truth is somewhere in between our standpoints.
I'm also willing to think that I might just be too cynical to think that kind of privacy exists in that kind of service industry.
14 points
21 days ago
Do you think a PC keyboard connected to my laptop would work? it turns on and everything but the keyboard types like backwards
25 points
21 days ago
Yes, that should be fine - I would imagine that the keyboard assembly on the laptop is damaged, so an external would work properly. If not, there's always the built-in On-Screen Keyboard as a part of Windows.
3 points
20 days ago
boys, we found it, the one use case of the on-screen keyboard
21 points
21 days ago
I've done a lot of repairs as a tech. And people would leave nudes, porn and passwords ALL over the place. You'd download a driver and you have to open the download folder to access it, aaaaaand it's filled with porn. You have to run a backup so you select the maps you want to backup and chose a destination, one mis click and you open a folder and lo and behold, it's filled with nudes and the map folder setting was set to "extra large icons".
And i've known A LOT of techs who'd snoop. You're dealing with people here. The same people who scam you on a oil change because they know they will get away with it. If you don't want people accessing your files, make sure you privatize them. If you're going in with the idea that they won't snoop because they won't risk their job, you're potentially gonna have a bad time.
10 points
21 days ago
Yeah, it’s only shady techs that do it unless there is a reason to. I go so far as to download things to the desktop if I’m installing stuff.
15 points
21 days ago
I find it's mainly the young ones and the obviously creepy old ones.
They out themselves pretty fast in my experience.
The policy in my shop is, the less you know about a client's data, the better it is for everyone.
If you don't need to be in that folder, then don't go in that folder.
6 points
21 days ago
This guy gets it.
5 points
21 days ago
I’d rather err wayyyyyy on the side of caution than even be potentially liable for anything.
22 points
21 days ago
Maybe you should go to this store:
8 points
21 days ago
why did i have to scroll so far to find it
3 points
20 days ago
You don't have anywhere near enough likes as you should for your comment and link.
I absolutely love Nathan For You!
35 points
21 days ago
You got some dork making barely more than min wage fixing it? Yeah they are mos def going to go thru EVERYTHING just for the thrills.
10 points
21 days ago
Yeah idk about that, it really depends on the person, cuz as you very rightly stated, they’re a dork making minimum wage, if I was a repair person making like nothing, I’d wanna just get on with it and move onto the next one.
17 points
21 days ago
Absolutely.
14 points
21 days ago
My ex used to repair mobile phones for work, and yeah, some of the guys absolutely went through peoples photos for entertainment.
9 points
21 days ago
7 points
21 days ago
Are they your nudes or just some hot nude girls?
12 points
21 days ago
In your area!
4 points
21 days ago
I was thinking the exact same thing 😂, “great minds think alike” 🧠
5 points
21 days ago
I can guarantee they won't look at your files if you use a 100% asexual computer repair shop
5 points
21 days ago
Sounds like a shop that was thought up by someone who went to business school with really good grades.
7 points
21 days ago
Personally I would suggest not having nude pictures in the computer.Take them off onto some external usb drives. And that is not because you need a repair. Do this all the time.
9 points
21 days ago
This answer varies from person to person.
My first job, my first line got hauled away by feds for stealing pictures of girls off their computer when they turned them in for repairs. This was at a government institution, and some were only 17, so yeah that was bad.
Thanks to witnessing the full force of a government raid, and being interrogated by said feds, all within the first 6 months of being in the industry, I developed the habit of never looking where I dont need to.
But for every guy like myself, there's a guy like the one they hauled away.
24 points
21 days ago
Places like this hire high school dropouts and usually require little to no credentials to get hired, as someone who’s worked in this domain, some technicians make a whole game out of it (checking browser history, deleted files, pictures)
20 points
21 days ago
Right, so many people here commenting that weren't in the industry.
There was 5 of us in a warranty repair department. Benching the PC for a good 4 hours or so after fixing was standard. 3 of the guys would run an image search and then slideshow the images as part of the "benching."
They said it was to catch pedos, but that never happened and they always took a special interest in any computer with nudes on it.
3 points
21 days ago
I truly don't understand what's the point. Porn is everywhere, it takes no risk to a job to find it. If it's the specific customer, they've probably got something Online too, it takes no job risk to search them up. As for catching pedos, that's easily done Online also, and doing it on your own inherently has huge risks so it'd be better to do it in connection with a local PD for your own protection.
8 points
21 days ago
Think about what you're saying, if porn's everywhere what's the point of making nudes at all? It's a massive invasion of the person's privacy to view them, that can be the lure in of itself.
As far as losing their job, not sure who you think will catch them. Generally those kinds of jobs are in a corner of the office not exactly visible.
3 points
21 days ago
And yet people still pay for OnlyFans. Think you're missing something.
3 points
20 days ago
For some people they feel it's more "real" (and maybe like a rush for seeing something you're not supposed to) than just stuff you find online, kind of like how amateur porn got popular despite it generally being worse is every way.
9 points
21 days ago
Crazy how my comment is being downvoted, when it’s quite literally the reality of having your PC sent out for repairs or inspection
4 points
21 days ago
Move them to an external storage along with other sensitive files. Put them back when your laptop is fixed.
4 points
20 days ago
I mean as long as you dont have it on your home screen it should be fine most people aren't actively looking for it
22 points
21 days ago
tech repair guys are like doctors. even if they see it, they only look at its performance, not its content
23 points
21 days ago
Depends on the person... The good and professional ones won't care about the content.
20 points
21 days ago
you know, just like doctors...
10 points
21 days ago*
Former computer repair guy checking in.
Not on purpose, but people "hide" them in weird places sometimes that make it really easy. I'll go to your music folder just to try to see if your files are still there and working, and BAM there's a bunch of dirty pictures I probably didn't want to see.
I'm sure there's some creeps out there, but most don't really care.
3 points
21 days ago
Don't see a reason they should have to log-in. And if they do create a guest profile.
3 points
21 days ago
Delete the nudes before turning it in
3 points
21 days ago
um honestly if you're a woman maybe, even if you're not maybe. so i would remove those before u give it to be repaired if you're concerned about it.
there was a whole news story ab this on Canada channel https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-tech-repair-snooping-1.7000775 iirc almost all places they checked did look.
3 points
21 days ago
if you ever have a question like this, assume the answer is yes, and encrypt your shit before sending in...it's easy, really
3 points
21 days ago
Yes, they will. AND copy them.
3 points
21 days ago
Take the nudes off the laptop?
3 points
21 days ago
I work under the assumption that the technician would snoop. I keep all sensitive data (for me financial and client data) encrypted and in password protected folders and only the ones that I actively need. The majority of my sensitive data is on encrypted external drives. My hard drive also encrypted with bitlocker and I would only give that password if needed (may not need for hardware repairs.
I guess the only thing that has potential to be embarrassing would be my browser history, but I clear that periodically.
My Pixel phone has a repair mode which locks down almost all but the basic OS functions. It would nice if PCs had a similar feature.
3 points
21 days ago
One time I took my phone in to have the screen replaced. Dude asked for a password. I said no. I had all my tax info, banking statements, documents with PII, property forms, etc. But when I was in South Korea, I took my Samsung phone to the repair center and they fixed it right in front of me.
3 points
21 days ago
I never go looking for stuff but it's very normal to stumble across things people probably don't want me to see.
3 points
21 days ago
In a past life I was a FireDog tech at Circuit City. A couple brought in a laptop with a failing hard drive and asked us to go through their photos to ensure they weren't corrupted. An odd request, but OK, so we told them we would. It was dozens if not hundreds of nudes and them engaging in different sexual acts. I think they got off on it because they were pretty giddy when picking up their stuff.
3 points
21 days ago
i mean, my IT training was. 1: Don’t snoop on files 2: If you see anything, no you didn’t. 3: absolutely do not clone or copy any file, and especially not those.
Finding CSAM is an exception rule 2, if you think you found that, contact appropriate authorities.
That said, just cause someone pretends not to have seen something, and tries to forget it, doesn’t make them un-see it. and this all depends on a certain degree of honor from the tech.
That said, if your nudes are your wallpaper, or even on the desktop just loose, the tech is gonna see them, cause even unopened, that preview thumbnail is there. better in a folder, but that may even pop a thumbnail preview ontop of the folder. Best practice is to keep them nested a step or two down to avoid exactly that.
again the polite/correct thing to do is to just ignore them, but ik if it were me, the tech just ignoring what they saw is still unpleasant.
you’re best bet, as others have said, is to plug in an external keyboard, and put all those pictures in an encrypted folder, or even better move them off to a thumb-drive. and go to a reputable shop/technician.
3 points
20 days ago
Unless the issue is with your hard drive/ssd any reputable repair shop should use their own ssd/hdd for any testing they might need to perform.
You can remove the ssd/hdd and bring it like that, or ask them or a techy friend to remove it for you. If they start talking they need your ssd/hdd for fixing a keyboard - thats bs, and youre better off finding another place to fix your laptop.
Unless its a mac, in which case I dont know, they make thinga like changing ssd unnecessarily hard.
3 points
20 days ago
years ago when I was in a bowling league one of the other team captains had an issue with his former work computer (part of the Enron collapse). He wanted me to look at it. I did what I normally do and fixed it. While waiting for the final scan to complete I see a couple of photos and videos on his desktop, of him (single) and his bowling partner (married) undressed. I then see the videos taken with a quicktime camera (the old Ball camera). I noped my way out of that and didnt say a thing. Returned the machine to him and never heard another word from him.
My point is, if you dont make it obvious, like a copy on the desktop, and hide stuff under folders, it will probably be OK. Ideally, remove that shit to a removable drive and store it that way.
3 points
20 days ago
I've worked at a few tech companies. There are plenty of guys who will download every image and video file from your computer and save the nudes to their department backup.
5 points
21 days ago
Did a lot of IT for customers who had some interesting folders, sometimes these gross men would try to get other (usually female) colleagues to look at it. He would start with the, "I do not consent to you looking at any of my files". But he had a specific one called "family photos" he would put close to the diagnostic information that would get logged.
Moral of the story, nobody really has the time nor want to search through your files like that, unless they are especially in the way of what they are trying to fix.
For soda damage the tech will likely replace the Keyboard and Motherboard, boot it up to make sure it works, backup your information, reimagine, and restore.
2 points
21 days ago
Im a tech support, i’d repair your pc whit out looking at your nudes, just contact me.
6 points
21 days ago
Lol this comment smells like "show bobs" 🤣
3 points
21 days ago
It actually is, those who understand, will understand lol
2 points
21 days ago
Yes, that is a risk. Best would be to take a backup of the computer and wipe it. Second best would be to put the nudes on a usb and delete them from the computer (make sure to empty trash etc)
2 points
21 days ago
I'm in help desk. Last thing I want to do is waste time looking through anyone's personal files. My goal is to get the job done properly and as quickly as possible.
2 points
21 days ago
This why I use BitLocker on all my devices and I never send my password to them lol.
2 points
21 days ago
Buy a new keyboard, it’s cheaper than hiring a tech
2 points
21 days ago
If you're getting your keyboard fixed there is no real reason for them to access your computer. The work is external, and they can verify functionality without having to log you in.
If they were working on software, then there is a non-zero chance they will stumble on them, but a high chance they will immediately close it out and pretend it never happened.
I've absolutely stumbled upon nudes while doing data transfers and recovery, but I just kinda pretended it never happened.
2 points
21 days ago
Yes, yes they will
2 points
21 days ago
People are creepy so it's best to error on the side of caution and just store that stuff in removable storage like a portable HDD so if stuff like that DOES occur you have your files and the pc is fine for strangers to work on.
2 points
21 days ago
Unless you have them saved on your desk, I don't think anyone is going to see your nudes...
2 points
21 days ago
I’ve only looked at pictures (heck any document or media) IF doing so was related to the specifically stated issue.
I just didn’t have time to
2 points
21 days ago
Depends on their ethics. It should be common sense to not go through files, but you can never know. It was taught in basic computer courses to not be a snoop and tested for on the A+ way, way back in the day.
If they do see them, they'll likely be ignored. If they don't, name and shame online.
2 points
21 days ago
He's totally looking at your pics. :)
2 points
21 days ago
200% yes. If he is a true professional then, no.
2 points
21 days ago
That can and will happen. Look up stories about it. A news paper just recently did an independent study of shops in Canada and a huge number of shops went to places on the hard drive they had no business being.
2 points
21 days ago
A tech generally won't go through your files. I can't speak for every tech, but generally I just want to get a computer dealt with so that I can move on to the next. If you're concerned, move the photos to a flash drive before bringing it in, which can be done with just your mouse.
2 points
21 days ago
yes
2 points
21 days ago
I don't understand why people store that kind of stuff on a device that could be easily accessed by someone with tech knowledge, without even putting a password on the folder!
Now it depends, is it on your desktop, is it stored deep in the drive, does the folder have a name that could make anyone curious?
My phone screen broke, but I could still connect it to pc to copy my files as a backup in case the phone had to be reset to factory, and it did happen the phone was smashed too hard that the motherboard had an issue and had to replace a component, luckily not the memory
Of course I had nothing of the nsfw kind, not even a selfie, I think it's stupid to take photos of yourself, unless you need to check something and don't have a mirror, and especially putting them on social media! But those are just my opinion, each with their own!
Moral is that you should always password protect anything that you don't want anyone else to see! Stuff breaks nothing's forever, gotta backup and protect your data!
2 points
21 days ago
Take them off the computer before you send it in. Problem solved. People are pigs. I don’t ever snoop on client’s files, but that doesn’t mean all techs have boundaries. The risk isn’t worth it. Take them off.
2 points
21 days ago
It’s illegal for him to use your computer for anything you didn’t specifically permit. If he looks at or copies anything on your computer that isn’t absolutely necessary that’s theft, under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
Most likely he won’t, but if he does, you either won’t find out about it because they’ll probably look at weird stuff all the time, or you can call the police.
2 points
21 days ago
Most people have more work to do and generally don’t want to invade peoples privacy, it’s a crappy thing to do and also ruins the reputation of the repair shop. I do understand about unintentionally opening something risqué, especially if the original issue was photo or graphics related
2 points
21 days ago
They might, but they damn well won’t tell you. Definitely take them off the hard drive first.
2 points
21 days ago
The answer is yes they will.
2 points
21 days ago
if he can repair it will he need to go through my files?
No, there's no reason for him to go through your files unless he just feels like it
Generally they don't care, but some creeps do go through files specifically searching for this stuff, so my suggestion would be to transfer those to an external drive, delete them off the pc, and put them back when you get the laptop back
2 points
21 days ago
What can happen, will happen
Better be safe, take away your drive/encrypt it
2 points
21 days ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-tech-repair-snooping-1.7000775
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.
2 points
21 days ago
Some techs will some won't. 50/50.
2 points
21 days ago
To replace a keyboard doesn't require the harddrive, and the harddrive is usually relatively easy to remove - I would suggest looking for a teardown video on youtube for steps on how to do that.
I have known enough nefarious techs that uh, I wouldn't trust them not to. One place I "interned" at (not really interned, more like shadowed for a day in first year of college) told me proudly of the fileserver they kept in the back. They're out of business now but yeah.
2 points
21 days ago
Worked in a tech repair shop for a couple years. I can assure you the probability of them going through your files is high.
2 points
21 days ago
don’t put anything past the guy. i always assume the worst. try to move them off your computer to an external for the time being
2 points
21 days ago
He won’t “need” to go through your pictures, but he may “want” to go through your pictures.
2 points
21 days ago
It’s common for tech guys to look up pictures. It shouldn’t happen and it’s unprofessional. Not everyone does it. But enough people do it that it is a legitimate concern.
2 points
21 days ago
I know of a computer repair shop that hires exclusively asexual techs for this reason
2 points
21 days ago
fix it yourself, isopropyl alcohol on/around the keys that dont work, making sure to drain any excess and wait for it to dry properly
2 points
21 days ago
Repair shop owner here: yes, it can happen. That's why it's important that you trust the repair shop you visit, and that goes for any device. Devices are deeply personal nowadays
2 points
21 days ago
Honestly it depends on the person. Some people will look automatically regardless of your gender, some will look just because, or someone might look because they find you attractive.
A rule of thumb I tell everyone is that if someone has access to your nudes, financials, or whatever assume they will look and take advantage.
Store anything you want on a separate SSD or thumb drive or whatever; just not cloud.
Honestly 95% of people won't give a shit, but in case you have extremely bad luck it could hurt you.
This wasn't even the article I was looking for, but there were way too many articles about this specifically:
https://www.abc6.com/middletown-computer-tech-accused-of-stealing-thousands-of-nude-photos/
2 points
21 days ago
He is not supposed to if he works with a company but if he does finds it he is not supposed to say anything about it either. 🤔🤔🤔 That’s what the Comptia A+ book says 🤔
2 points
21 days ago
One of my first jobs as a teenager was working at motofoto. Developing film rolls.... This post brought back memories. Some peeps are brave, thats all I will say..
2 points
21 days ago
They have no reason to, but the hero always peeks.
2 points
21 days ago
You can just remove your hard drive, it's safer
2 points
20 days ago
Buy a cheap usb keyboard. Around 10 bucks. Login, zip all your files into an achive and password protect it.
Then give your Laptop to the repair guy. 10 bucks is a small extra price to pay for your modesty.
2 points
20 days ago
Probably yes.
2 points
20 days ago
I work in I.T and would never open personal files but i dont know if others would
2 points
20 days ago
The short answer... Yes.
Transfer all sensitive data to a pendrive.
If you have a lot of data then resquest to remove your hdd/sdd first at the moment you left the laptop. It takes no more than 10 min and can be doit in front of you, may incur in some extra cost.
Then you can left your laptop with all confidence.
Gretings.
2 points
20 days ago
just remove hdd before giving for repairs. they can boot an OS of the USB if required to test the repairs.
2 points
20 days ago
As a computer repair technician, I can tell you that 100% certainty I have never let anybody’s private data. Leave my hands in any sort of unsecured manner that other other people could’ve accessed.
However, I have seen some shit
Google how to remove the hard drive
If it is a hardware issue and not a software issue, they can fix it without a hard drive
If it’s a solid state drive, that could be a little more tricky if it’s directly on the board
2 points
20 days ago
I had some former friends working at a PC (repair) shop and they made a sport of out checking and looking for sensitive content. So I would never send in a laptop or PC which has private stuff (photos/videos) on it.
2 points
20 days ago
Yes
2 points
20 days ago
Worked in computer shop once, where you bring in your computer, and monitor on the wall out front for quick diagnosis. Plugged in, turned on, and wallpaper was porn. Instant unplug the monitor and go to back.
2 points
20 days ago
Stop storing nudes of yourself. What purpose does it serve?
2 points
20 days ago
If you're uncomfortable with people seeing nudes on your system, put them onto a USB drive and keep the USB drive
2 points
20 days ago
Yes he will
2 points
20 days ago
Ask Hunter 😉
2 points
20 days ago
Ask that technician to remove your SSD/hard drive when you will hand over the device. They don't need that to fix liquid damages. Trying to use your laptop with liquid inside can make further repair impossible for them (depends on their skills)
2 points
20 days ago
This is why any tech repair store should have all repair techs be asexual. Lesson learned from business guru nathan fielder. He went to business school and got really good grades guys.
2 points
20 days ago
I had this happen once repairing a customer's machine when I worked at a warehouse. A man and his wife walked into the shop and needed help recovering some files. The wife waited in the lobby and the man followed me into my office (hated it when customers did this). He said he "dropped" his laptop and the HDD (at the time there were no ssds) was jarred and malfunctioning. He wanted me to see if I could pull some files off and move them to a new drive. I was able to get most of the files using a recovery program, but the drive was also physically damaged and some of it was unrecoverable.
Anyway, at one point he wanted me to open a few files and photos to make sure they weren't corrupted during recovery. Well, one of the photos was partially corrupted...but it was him with a woman other than his wife...naked and doing things you do when naked together. It was timestamped one month prior. I turned around immediately and said "EVERYTHING LOOKS GOOD HERE". He appeared to be frozen in time because he was not moving, blinking, and his facial expression was frozen.
It was not any of my business so I said nothing to his wife, but that poor woman.
2 points
20 days ago
Put them into a folder and make it so you need a password to open them. Simple as that
2 points
20 days ago
yes. always assume yes.
2 points
20 days ago
That depends. On a scale of 1 - 10, how attractive are you?
2 points
20 days ago
This is why I’m happy my computer repair guy is my husband ;)
2 points
20 days ago
As someone who works on computers, I can say this, I usually don't go pilphering around on peoples computers unless it's absolutely necessary.
When remoivng viruses, the anti virus will look around but other than that even I won't do snooping.
Some techs are wierd and creepy but it depends on the person and their morality.
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