"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:Lofcf.23244$ip6.22966@trnddc07...
kr0 wrote:
Apparently there is an issue with the Geek Squad at Best Buy viewing
personal files on computers. It seems that customers who have left their
personal computers to be serviced are concerned about unauthorized
viewing
of pictures, information and other files. If you check out
https://www.lawyersandsettlements.co...buy_geek_squad they have
the
information on this as well as what can be done about it. There is a free
case evaluation provided for those who may have experienced such an
issue. I
thought this was interesting and hope that it might be of some help.

kr0




I'm not sure what the surprise is, you'd be hard pressed to find a
computer repair shop where the techs don't poke around a little. That's
why it's common sense to remove sensitive data from a PC before taking it
in for service.

That's assuming the fault doesn't prevent removal of data. After all, most
people only take one in for service when there is no choice (e.g., it won't
boot) and they can't even access their hard drives. If the HD is
accessible, the customer could remove it before service, but a lot of folks
don't feel comfortable doing this with a desktop, much less a laptop.

If that isn't bad enough, a customer can't remove sensitive data if the very
reason they're submitting the unit is for data retrieval (e.g., IDE drive
crash requiring a board swap). The only ways to prevent techs from snooping
in this case is for the customer to do the repair him/herself or look over
the tech's shoulder while their HD is being fixed. Most customers won't
bother attempting such a repair and I'm certain there aren't many techs who
would agree to the latter.

That's why you must always remember to regularly BACKUP all your important
stuff, people! BACK IT UP or prepare to be devastated -- or at least
paranoid about snooping -- when your hard drive bites it.