privacy

Police Using Fitbit Data Against You?

September 22, 2018 by doctordave

I’m not talking the fat police either. I’m talking about someone going to jail based on what a fitness tracker told police.

The details are explained here . It should give everyone pause for concern. The obvious thing is “don’t do anything wrong,” but the problems go deeper than that. For example, given that people know how these trackers are used, what could stop someone from switching yours out and framing you. I know I’ve accidentally picked up my spouse’s tracker before. The Supreme Court is already grappling with issues of cell phone towers and privacy. Their decision might impact cases like this as well.

Photo by Bekathwia

Should You Use Your Fingerprint to Unlock Your Phone

May 29, 2017 by doctordave

I was a little late to the fingerprint unlocking game. Due to my extreme iPhone case, the fingerprint unlock didn’t work. I love it, but I’m inclined to turn the feature off.

Day 164 West Midlands Police Custody fingerprint scanner

While you can’t be compelled to give up your password due to the Fifth Amendment, you could be compelled to give your fingerprint. After all, police ask for fingerprints as part of their usual process.

A state appeals court in Minnesota has ruled just that according to this Techdirt article. This is just one court case, but I think privacy will start moving in that direction. I’m not a criminal. On the surface, I have nothing to hide. I haven’t done anything wrong, so why should I care if the police see my contacts, pictures, and appointments?

The problem, of course, is it creates a terrible precedent. We’re innocent until proven guilty and out of context, stuff on your phone could be incriminating. A joke or picture out of context could be really damaging.
We take privacy seriously here at DoctorDave Computer Repair. We know your mobile device, tablet and computer have intimate information. If you work with us, our goal is to keep that information in your control. We’ll keep it away from hackers and unauthorized government intervention.

Photo by West Midlands Police

Customer Privacy Again in the News

May 7, 2017 by doctordave

Apple should be ashamed of itself; recently employees were caught stealing photos from client systems. I don’t think companies like Apple quite understand the intimate and personal nature of the information they’re entrusted with.

Torley visits the Apple Store 05

I’ve written about our strict privacy policy, but it’s worth mentioning again. We realize people’s entire lives are stored on their computers and mobile devices. It’s a job we take seriously. It starts with working with the right people. We don’t make jokes about what we see and never take information off the computer without consent. We use remote control software, but it’s turned off by default.

Simply put, it’s your information. It’s in your control. Even if the FBI offered us money to snoop on you without a warrant, we wouldn’t! The same can’t be said of other computer repair companies in Lawrence, KS, Kansas City, and Topeka.

Photo by ▓▒░ TORLEY ░▒▓

Your Privacy and Computer Repair

April 30, 2017 by doctordave

When we do computer repair, we see all sorts of personal stuff. It’s not just your Facebook profiles and bank accounts. We can see your browsing habits, who else you know, every password. It’s everything that’s on your phone and more. We take that responsibility seriously, some providers don’t

Mobile Service Desk Best Buy 1

Recently, national news outlets have covered how Geek Squad has acted as a paid informants to the police. That story really bothered me. As technicians we have an affirmative duty to protect our client’s privacy. We have access to an unprecedented information not just about a client, but all the people that client interacts with. All our technicians go through extensive background checks and a rigorous interview process. That process helps prevent unethical or irresponsible technicians working on machines.

I fully support reporting to law enforcement when we see egregious violations on a system. In particular, we have a duty to report suspected child pornography. Geek Squad of Lawrence reported a customer of theirs with child pornogprahy. The difference between the Lawrence KS and the national story was the circumstances of how the pornography was found. In the Lawrence case, the Geek Squad found the illegal content because of a problem the client reported related to it. We’ve been in that situation too. We don’t open up files or images unless a client specifically requests the investigation or those files show up as containing malware. Our policy, similar to Geek Squad, is to report content we directly see in the process of a repair. We never look for it and never examine images. In my almost thirty years of repair experience, I’ve never had to report an image, but that doesn’t mean I’m not prepared for it.

We also comply with law enforcement requests and court orders. We’ve only turned over a computer once to law enforcement and that was after a fire. Before we could do data recovery, law enforcement wanted to see the computer for potential evidence of arson (none was found). We have however called the police when we suspect a stolen laptop as part of our password reset policy. In these situations, we’ve helped a few people get reunited with a laptop. That’s one of the best parts of the job.

Beyond these situations, what is in your computer is your own business. We’ll protect your privacy and fight for it whenever we can.

Photo by roblawton

Should You Worry About the Repeal of FCC Privacy Protections?

April 3, 2017 by doctordave

This past week, lots of clients in Lawrence have asked DoctorDave Computer Repair about the privacy of their internet connection. They’re asking if they should get a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or another method of protection. Our short answer is “not much has changed”, but we’re always for privacy.

When you cut through the ad-selling media hype (ironic!), these changes are all about ads. Right now, companies like Facebook and Google give you free stuff. In exchange for that free stuff, you see ads paid for by advertisers. That’s their business model.

I’m not ashamed to say we benefit from that model. We sell ads on both Facebook and Google. Those companies let us hyper-target our ads. We’re not advertising computer repair to the world – just Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City. We can go so far as advertising to older clients, with Macs, who went to KU, and probably voted for a particular candidate. Anything you search for or click on becomes part of your ad profile. As a business owner, I prefer that model over placing an ad in a newspaper or a billboard that gets seen by people we’re not interested in helping with their computers.

Thus, on that level, it seems weird that Google as a search engine company can sell targeted ads but Google as an Internet Service Provider can’t. Amazon can suggest products based on your browsing history, but AT&T can’t? It’s the same browser and same computer.

Don’t get me wrong. We’re huge advocates of privacy. We’d gladly place a billboard on 23rd street saying “Call us for Lawrence computer repair” to advertise our services instead of targeted ads. However, that’s not the way the world works right now. I’d love to see privacy protections put in place and even sharper restrictions against tracking and advertising. We take the privacy of our client information seriously here.

So back to the question..should you worry? I’d say you shouldn’t be any more worried today than you were before October of 2016 when these rules were first adopted. If you’re concerned about your privacy, the first thing to do is to stop giving companies like Facebook and Google information about you. If you use a VPN to get to Facebook, you’re not doing much more for your privacy. VPNs can also cause glitches and slow downs in your browsing experience.

We’ll set up a VPN for you, and we’ve already started doing more of these for clients. We just want you to know it’s not going to advance the ball much further for your privacy. You’re still being tracked by the websites you go to and the companies you do business with. For example, switching to DuckDuckGo for searches instead of a Google is a huge step forward for your privacy. Using a private mail server (election politics aside) keeps third parties like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft from seeing your stuff. A VPN is part of a comprehensive strategy to create a more private internet experience regardless of FCC or FTC protections. Instead of spending money with us, consider giving that money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They lobby on behalf of internet privacy daily.

Photos by hyku, cambodia4kidsorg

Our Policy Towards Password Resets and Password Recovery

January 17, 2017 by doctordave

One popular question we get at DoctorDave Computer Repair in Lawrence and Kansas City is “Can you recover my password?” Many times it’s an innocent problem, but we always play it safe.

Photo by IntelFreePress – http://flic.kr/p/dxdmTX

Why Do You Get Locked Out of Your Computer?

The most common reason is plain forgetfulness. You haven’t used it in a few months and you just forgot the password. Sometimes it’s a glitch in the computer. Maybe your keyboard isn’t working or Windows has a virus. We even see when you change your password on your iPhone; it changes your Mac’s password.

What If You Need Access, But Don’t Have the Password

Just because you own the computer, doesn’t mean you’re the main user. You could have given the computer to the kids or your employees. If you need something on the computer, those people might not give you the password. Ouch! Unfortunately, we’ll often have to deal with the computer of a person who passed away. Our client needs access to close out the owner’s affairs.

What We Need For Password Resets

We treat all clients equally. No matter how trustworthy you seem, we need your name to match the username on the computer. If they’re the same, we’ll use the methods we have to remove the password. If the names don’t match, then we’ll need a few more things:

1.) A receipt for the computer that matches your name. If it’s obvious you own the computer we can stop asking other questions.For example, if you bought it for your child, and we’re resetting that child’s account. If it is a business computer, then we need an email from the company that you’re authorized to reset the password.

2.) If the computer owner passed away, we need a document that lists you as the executor of the estate.

3.) If it’s for someone of diminished mental capacity (an elderly parent for example), then we need Power of Attorney.

Why Are We So Difficult?

We’re ethically hacking into a computer, so we have to be careful. The obvious reason we hesitate is we don’t want to help a thief. It’s not always that. A spouse wants us to see what the husband or wife is doing on the computer. An employee might want to see what is on the boss’s computer. We’ve encountered both those situations in the past.

Most people who are asking us to reset a password for legal reasons are happy to meet our guidelines. Some clients thank us for asking this information. After all, they want to make sure their stuff is secure.

When a client gives us grief or is offensive on the phone, we call the police. If “something doesn’t seem right,” we call the police. Most of the time the concern is a false alarm. The laptop isn’t reported as stolen, so we proceed based on our guidelines. One time we called and in fact, the computer was stolen, and we gave the contact info to the police. Due to privacy, they couldn’t tell us the details, beyond that the computer made it back to the rightful owner.

That one incident made it worth the hurdles we give everyone for a password reset.