I think people are missing the issue here. Of course everyone agrees with a see something say something policy. The issue is that they were getting paid to report crime.<p>Given that these people are not trained law enforcement, are typically low paid, and there is no chain of custody of the equipment whatsoever there is an incentive and real opportunity here to make crime in order to cash in.
This is a classic example of the cobra effect where Geek Squad employees are incentivized to plant child pornography on customers computers.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect</a>
If you discover child porn in the course of repairing someone’s computer, you should report it. The problem is getting paid to actively search for it. That sets up some perverse incentives. While it’s unlikely that an enterprising Geek Squader would want to run afoul of the FBI, it’s a very bad idea to create a profit motive for someone to plant this sort of evidence.<p>I wonder about Best Buy’s position in this? They aren’t exactly alienating the non-pedophile public with this activity and aren’t going to lose business over it. That said, deputizing your employees is sort of odd.
I don't think they should be paid but I don't see it much different than seeing someone assault someone in the store. Again, not a full scan trying to find violations but witnessing a crime as part of your job. A law was broke so call the police. I personally think you lose your rights around search and privacy when you publicly give it to someone else. Even therapists and psychiatrists are allowed to break privacy when the patient is openly admitting to planning to assault/kill someone else. This is obviously a different seriousness but with a therapist there <i>is</i> an expectation of complete privacy.
I get it. When you're FBI and your life is having to look at child porn, you've got plenty of reasons to be super motivated to catch these people with whatever means necessary. And with something as awful as child exploitation, a reasonable person can come to genuinely believe that the ends justifies the means.<p>It's still manifestly wrong, but I get it.
I think the headline is kinda missing the point here; the issue is not the flagging of illegal images once found, the issue is snooping around people's computers that were left for repairs deliberately looking for illegal images and the violation of trust there.<p>My computer doesn't have anything illegal on it, that doesn't mean I want a Geek Squad employee looking around at what is there. And if they know there's a payday from the FBI if they find something, you bet they are going to look around. Then what happens when they find something not illegal but that they like; pictures of my wife or friends and family at the beach or something.<p>This is really not acceptable on multiple levels.
define "illegal" imagery .. two steps to avoid 1337 h@x0rs is to not send in a personal hard drive in the first place. Ethics at the $10/h counter is about as transparent as this glass of water I'm drinking. Morality, especially when a smart 18 year old, sees cash -> a few bits of planted evidence -> huge pay day (relative to what they know as such) can be a lot easier to overcome thanks to money.<p>I replace the storage device on my Apple laptops immediately, and store it in case a unit dies. Warranty services outside of the care of a local shop - mail in stuff - is also a big no-no. Nobody looking at my 4th Amendment rights.<p>Call me paranoid, but if you are remotely ignorant to the fact that snooping teenagers aren't looking through your stuff ... think again. It's just common sense to just replace the drive as a matter of privacy.
It should cost Best Buy a $100 processing fee to report child porn. That's a small price to pay to catch a criminal but too high to go actively snooping through hard drives.
Before I started programming in College, I worked as a Geek Squad "Counter Intelligence Agent" and this is something that definitely came up in conversations with veteran employees. State police were contacted and arrests were made.
Dear FBI, I'm happy to join the effort in my spare time. You probably have my Whatsapp and bank account already, so let's just make it happen.
When my son was circumcised the pediatric urologist said if we had any concerns we could text a picture of it to him. I thought that sounded weird, but could see how this is totally legitimate doctor trying to save himself time and save ourselves an appointment, and money for an office visit.
If I'm an electrician on call-out to someone's home and, totally by accident, I discover someone tied up in their basement, should I report it to the police?<p>If I'm repairing someone's computer at their request and, totally by accident, I discover illegal material on it, should I report it to the police?<p>It seems pretty straightforward to me that you can, and in fact you really ought to. Maybe you disagree with what counts as "illegal" (like if didn't report finding pot in someone's home in a country where it's illegal) but that's a different discussion from whether this is generally reasonable behaviour.