T-Mobile sued after employee stole nude images from customer phone during trade-in::T-Mobile has been sued again for failing to protect consumer data after an employee at one of its Washington stores stole nude images off of a customer’s phone.
The employee was and is a scum bag human, but what dumbass trades a phone with nudes on it‽ I wouldn’t even get a phone serviced with nudes.
People forget, my ex sold her laptop on eBay, but forgot to wipe it and it had a bunch of nudes she had sent me over the years on it. After she realized what she did she told him to wipe the computer because she forgot to 🤦♂️ this was like a decade ago before BitLocker/encryption was standard on most laptops. The dude definitely saw her naked.
I had a friend leave her laptop with me for some maintenance. I think it was probably a reformat or something? I return her laptop, and she asks “have you seen my photos in folder X on the desktop?”. I responded “no, why would I”. She went “oh, such a shame” and made a “cartoonish” pouty face. From the conversation that followed, they were “raunchy”.
Like, bruh, I won’t be looking into your data. Want me to see something, send it to me straight, don’t expect me to snoop around lol
I worked for sprint in a retail store for 3 years, and the number of people that handed me their phones with their own nudes as the backgrounds was shocking.
deleted by creator
They could just be an exhibitionist. Self absorbed is also a possibility. Or both!
I was pretty oblivious at the time so it’s possible. But I don’t think so.
deleted by creator
I’ve seen it as a bdsm humiliation task a few times? Usually temporary though.
One of our customers sent their server back to us for repair, and we were greeted with a desktop background of the grottiest fanny any of us have ever seen.
So what do you do if you literally cant wipe the phone I.e broken screen? Just never have anything there to begin with?
Phones these days are encrypted. If you ever set up a pin/password to unlock your phone, that means it’s encrypted. Just make sure your phone is powered off or restarted (or battery drained, if the off button isn’t working), before you drop it off at the repair shop.
No one can access your files in this state - not even the manufacturer (unless there’s backdoor, but that’s a different topic - but even then, there are many “secure folder” type apps you could use to encrypt sensitive data).
deleted by creator
Plug it into a computer and delete the files that way?
Youve never actually had that happen if you think its that easy.
Guys no…
-
You cant wipe a phone remotely with your google sign on unless “find my device” is enabled, which it never was.
-
My phone does not just give access automatically to any device plugged into it. You are REQUIRED to give permission from the phone. Which cant be done because the screen is fucked.
-
Your phone SHOULDNT be accessible in this scenario because allowing any device to just plug in and download everything with no authentication is a security risk.
It is still possible to unlock an android phone with a fucked screen.
I had to do this once and managed to unlock the phone with a USB mouse. It took me a while to get the right pattern, but it is possible.
I mean sure it’s not easy to remote wipe if you never set up the feature that lets you remote wipe.
My phone does not just give access automatically to any device plugged into it. You are REQUIRED to give permission from the phone. Which cant be done because the screen is fucked.
The first ever Android I had (Galaxy S4) was sadly dropped by a friend, and the oled screen was toast within a few days… thankfully I had previously authorized ADB on my main computer, had it paired to a Sony Ericsson LiveView (with OpenLiveView), and my bluetooth headset was set up to automatically launch the music player when connected. Could also make calls using the voice assistant (forgot what it was called back then, S-Voice or something?) needless to say a screen replacement wasn’t urgent at all.
Can’t say I’d be able to do the same nowadays on modern Android with all the forced app killing and stuff, as well as Google Assistant being a massive downgrade (believe most useful actions on a smashed device would require unlocking, and on-screen confirmation)
It depends on how the phone is setup and whether or not you have plugged in to a pc before. It sounds like it’s you that has that no idea.
Most android phones (can’t speak to Apple) are pretty much plug and play via USB. Plug it in and browse the files on it, it’s slow as hell and may be retrievable by software designed to undelete files but it’s doable, you may have to approve the connection on the phone but if you have plugged it in prior then you probable don’t have to.
Dude the goddamned phone requires that you confirm permission to access or manipulate anything on that phone. You cant just plug a usb cable in and fuck with everything. What the hell sort of phones do you guys buy that it just does that with no security measures?
Sounds like you don’t understand tech at all. Some of us have been using smart phones since palm and blackberry. Earlier versions of Android didn’t need the confirmation at all, assuming that it was defaulted to file access.
I’ve been android since the beginning and my last few phones (all pixels) I don’t remember having to approve the usb connection after the first time.
Can you plug a random phone into a pc and access files? Probably not.
Can you plug your own phone into a pc it’s been connected to prior and access files even with a broken screen? More likely yes, than no.
You and the other minions downvoting me should try reading my entire comments as many times ad needed for you to grasp the very basic concepts at play.
And to repeat. You have no idea how the file system on android works. You most definitely can delete/backup/etc the photos, screenshots, etc on the phone via USB. You can not easily access app data as thats encrypted and stored elsewhere.
You kids need to get off the internet before you hurt yourself.
This is starting to feel more and more like reddit, that’s not a good thing.
Dude you dont even know whether I use android or apple and youre making assumptions about how MY PHONE works. My phone requires that permission be granted to access data from the phone. Telling me again that I can fix this doing something I have already tried is a waste of both of our time. It didnt fucking work. Do you understand? You can fuck right off with this “I know how your phone works better than you do despite not knowing anything at all about it.”
And to repeat. You have no idea how the file system on android works. You most definitely can delete/backup/etc the photos, screenshots, etc on the phone via USB. You can not easily access app data as thats encrypted and stored elsewhere.
Not if the phone doesn’t give permission to lol. I speak from personal experience of a Pixel 3a. Previously connected and all.
Nope. Had this happen with my wife’s phone. Because developer mode had not been enabled previously and the screen was completely inactive, there was absolutely no way to wipe the phone.
Choice was either pay a stupid amount of money to get the screen repaired (and I’ve had a bad experience with screen repairs actually working) or bin the phone and hope that nobody bothers to try and fix and then gain access. :/
-
If it’s just a broken screen, Google your way in learning how to repair it yourself.
Or, find a shop that will repair it in front of you the whole time. Pay extra if need be
Or, if the material is too sensitive and the above options aren’t viable:
- accept the loss and destroy the phone. Or,
- accept that whatever is in there will be viewed
The good thing with a problem like this is that your options are limited. So there’s not a whole hell of a lot of decision tree making you need to do.
Stop being logical! We need to find holes!
Actually yes, but that’s just old man me yelling at the clouds. Nudes are just so pointless, especially of oneself.
Flashback to the time Gary Glitter got arrested for handing in a PC for repair that was stuffed to the gills with child porn.
Simple, Could’ve broken it beyond use after taking the noods. Possibly due to holding it an awkward position to get them sick porn angles.
Everyone knows that 196° is the best, and subsequently the most awkward and prone to dropping angle for porn.
See, I don’t care if people see my nudes as such. What would bother me more is the act of accessing my phone in ways they didn’t need to, rather than what they found, so I don’t see much point in removing nudes first.
“But 3rd party repair people will install TikTok on your phone if you trust them”
Two really dumb people and Tmobile is going to pay. Also, never trade in your phone. I keep the previous generation as a backup in case I lose or break it, and I take a hammer to the older ones on rotation.
By the time I’m ready to part with a phone, they offer peanuts for the trade in. I might as well keep it and do something else with it
Sometimes they offer crazy promotions. Verizon had a any pixel for a pixel 7 deal. My boss traded in a pixel 1 for like $500 off a 7.
My boss traded in a pixel 1
He probably didn’t realize having Pixel 1 means unlimited lifetime Google Photos backup in original quality… I bought a 50-60$ used one just for that purpose.
Wut. I still have a pixel 1. Hold up.
Ok, for others, the pixel 1 needs to upload the photos so you sync a camera folder with your new phone to p1. Deets: https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/06/02/how-to-google-photos-pixel-free/
Actually the last few times, Verizon has called me to upgrade for little or no money, sometimes paying more for my old phone than I did when it was new. I asked once why they do it, and it is some sort of loyalty program.
Assuming you are on a plan where there is just a monthly hardware surcharge, you likely pay 20% of the price of the phone up front, and about 200% of the price of the phone by the time they recommend you change hardware. Even a crappy phone is almost a thousand dollars now, and they can still be worth hundreds used after a few years, there are many places older used phones can be sent and sold.
Most of those types of plans have about a 50-75 dollar a month hardware charge built into the plan. A “bring your own device” plan is like 20-30 dollars a month. 50 dollars a month for 2 years is 1200 dollars. 75 dollars a month for 3 years is 2700 dollars. Pretty easy to fit the price of a phone in there somewhere.
Also their favorite customer, is the one that has a hardware fee in their plan, but then buys a new phone themselves from a third party. For people that plan to buy their own phone, make sure you are on a “bring your own device” plan. Save yourself hundreds of dollars a year. I know that part doesn’t pertain to the person I am replying to, but I have talked to alot of people that brought their own device and were still on a 70-115$ monthly phone plan.
The phone company won’t tell you about the other options, you have to ask, and some of the bigger companies don’t even offer a plan without a built-in hardware surcharge. Then you better hope you have another option in your area. Most of the littler phone companies with dumb names aren’t big enough to even offer hardware, so if you were ever curious why their plans can be 1/3rd the price, they are byod plans.
you can run octoprint on old phones, that’s pretty fun.
I’ll trade when the money is right. iPhone 12 Pro-13 ProMax cost me $60. Yes it was a year old, but for a fresh battery and better tele lens it was worth it. This year I upgraded to a 15 Pro. I get nothing but a new battery and a C charging port (faster processor means little to me), but it cost me only $95 net - less than a battery replacement. For all the limitation of the Apple ecosystem and over-priced hardware, it gets exceptionally favorable trade-in pricing.
Iirc, iPhones reset / overwrite the encryption key so it would take substantial effort for someone to see how many steps I take in a day or to find my vacation photos. It’s probably easier to steal info from my iCloud backup at Apple.
Your trade-in doesn’t count because you paid $60 to get essentially the same exact phone.
Mine was a trade up from std pro to max, plus a longer tele (and maybe 1/3 of a battery). DD went from the 12 to the 13 for $28 on the same trade promo.
Even ignoring the battery value, from a residual value basis a years’ newer phone is worth about $50-75 even on the 3rd or 4th year out, so the bare resale value for both was a wash or better. If I’m getting upgraded for almost nothing out-of-pocket, long term, I’m going to take it.
I hope you remove the batteries first before going at it with the hammer, or else you’re going to be breathing in some really nasty fumes.
Plus damaging the battery could cause it to ignite anywhere between an hour to several days after it takes damage.
And unless you actually destroy the storage, you are in the exact same situation. Also, I assume someone taking a hammer to a device is not recycling it properly.
Phones have a factory reset for a reason
Man, that sounds exciting!
Particularly if you’re in someone else’s house, of course.
I rarely upgrade phones, and the last one I smashed had removable batteries. Yeah, I’d figure next upgrade. I’d have to figure something out for my Note 8.
I’ve got a hard nut to crack as well, my Note 9 is peak Samsung and I can’t find a replacement that has stylus, 3.5 mm jack, microSD and capacitive fingerprint scanner (in-display ones suck, at least on A50 from my workplace).
Is the last one an absolute requirement? If not, although I imagine you’re already aware of it, have you considered the Moto G Stylus? It manages the first three details nicely, but I don’t think any of the models have a capacitive fingerprint scanner (may be mistaken, wasn’t a feature I was interested in when looking into these).
Is the last one an absolute requirement?
No, but it must match capacitive reader’s performance.
I’ve just checked the 2023 version of Moto G Stylus and… IPS? Seriously, Motorola? Sorry, devil wears Prada and flagships wear AMOLED.
Oh, yeah. I forgot that G Stylus isn’t supposed to be a flagship. Duh.
Thank you for suggesting something anyway. Guess I’ll stick to the Note 9 and keep fixing it until the world dies.
deleted by creator
but breaking bad does it
Had an iPhone 8 serviced at ubreakifix and I got it back and it opened to the top-level of the Photos app. It was also the time when putting the phone to sleep in Recently Deleted or Hidden sent the app back to the top-level when woken back up.
Lesson learned, inferior parts too due to availability and cost limitations sadly. I didn’t mind the added thickness but I did mind that it could not keep up with my typing speed. Apple services phones without requiring the passcode and I’m disappointed I didn’t dig in my heels more.
i know iphones are user friendly but dude thats a DINOSAUR 🦕
You’re talking to someone who keeps a couple Palm PDAs around!
But more seriously, it worked fine, ran well enough and I got rid of it maybe 14 months ago? I had it for around 4 years at that point and it’s still getting some iOS 16 patches if I had kept it.
It’s not about the user friendliness, it’s about available parts, service, and software support! Just happens to age gracefully for a phone
“Stole” nude images? From a trade-in phone? More like “were handed access to”
As someone that had to delete some photos from his Samsung:
Nah, these phones are shitshows that save shit everywhere. I had to delete them three times.
That’s just disregarding the fact that you’re straight up victim blaming. Might as well ask what they were wearing, there is no excuse, just violation.
Might as well ask what they were wearing
They were nude photos, just sayin’
I’m not blaming the victim, the employee did act like an ass. All I’m saying is the victim did not take safety precautions people should take regardless of whether they are trading in their phone or not. If that is victim blaming then I’m victim blaming everyone who has no common sense regarding privacy and mindfull use of electronics.
“I’m not victim blaming”
Proceeds to keep victim blaming
Regardless of the fact that people just forget things sometimes, expecting people that just want a phone to know how to do a factory reset simply isn’t reasonable.
You and I wouldn’t trade it in without wiping it, probably, but we’re mega nerds on the Fediverse. These things seem obvious to us but they simply aren’t that important, or common knowledge, to normal people.
There is, and there only ever is, one person at fault when trust is violated. That there are safeguards you can take is a different discussion.
deleted by creator
It’s not common knowledge to delete data on a device you’re getting rid off? What the fuck are you on about?
Again, the employee should be taken to court and punished. But this case, if anything, proves that one should never assume good faith in humans and always take precautions. That’s why there are privacy and security measures and good practices available in every aspect of our life.
You’d be right if the company didn’t have policies specifically forbidding this behavior.
