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Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

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Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#151

To be fair, when sending a Pixel for reparations, Google very clearly and explicitly asks to factory_reset the phone. I personally didn't reset it when I sent my Pixel 3 to fix the charging port because my Pixel was fully encrypted. All Pixels are encrypted by default as long as you have any kind of lock method enabled (PIN, password, shape...). I don't really understand how this person got his files in cleartext and…

[deleted]

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#152
post #133

Flagged because the original post and its details were deleted. There's just a pointless conversation about whether you should contact a lawyer, which is literally the only thing this person should have done.

OP's contents are posted in this thread:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29406217

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#153

I'm sick of people, so I'm not going to read the inevitable comments that are going to come. Look, face it, some people like taking nude photos of themselves and they like sharing them with their partners. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It's not their fault if something like this happens. People should be able to feel secure in the tech that they use, in the companies that they entrust their information…

It's definitely the fault of some individual related to the service. BUT, you must be pretty stupid to send a device away that contains sensitive information.

And unfortunately, a lot of people in society don't expect this type of intrusion by a company they trust. But they should. And I don't think you can blame Google for any of this.

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#154

It was deleted. Here is the OG Text: "Ok so this just happened. Buckle up. About a month ago my wife broke her pixel phone. It couldn't be turned on so we couldn't wipe it. We contact Google and used the device care to get an RMA. Today someone posted nude pictures of my wife and I to her social media accounts. They accessed her Google account and tried to lock us out. They used her PayPal to send someone $5 (a test…

Based on a previous case with Apple, this guy is going to be a millionaire. So at least he has that.

Maybe he already is - thus the deleted comment.

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#155

To be fair, when sending a Pixel for reparations, Google very clearly and explicitly asks to factory_reset the phone. I personally didn't reset it when I sent my Pixel 3 to fix the charging port because my Pixel was fully encrypted. All Pixels are encrypted by default as long as you have any kind of lock method enabled (PIN, password, shape...). I don't really understand how this person got his files in cleartext and…

Another comment quotes:

  > About a month ago my wife broke her pixel phone. It couldn't be turned on so
  > we couldn't wipe it. We contact Google and used the device care to get an RMA.

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#156
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do we tend to treat people like they’re asking for it when their nudes get compromised? Because nudity is akin to sex and sexual ways, which are taboo in many societies. Upstanding citizens do not have nudes, in general. Especially women or nudes hinting at same-sex romance. It isn't right, but it is . Edit: I'm not saying I agree with this. But it doesn't take much to see folks putting others down for nudity. YM…

> Upstanding citizens do not have nudes, in general. What makes you sure about this? What evidence do you have?

What's great about this is you don't need evidence. People just need to believe it. People at large have a large number of vices they do in private, but the moment our private lives are made public it is very common for others to point the finger and say how dare they do that, even when said person does the same thing.

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but you probably wouldn’t ever hear someone say “maybe you should have had less trust” if Google employees snooped on your Drive account to steal financial records or something like that to use against you. Why do we tend to treat people like they’re asking for it when their nudes get compromised?

Why do we tend to treat people like they’re asking for it when their nudes get compromised? Because nudity is akin to sex and sexual ways, which are taboo in many societies. Upstanding citizens do not have nudes, in general. Especially women or nudes hinting at same-sex romance. It isn't right, but it is . Edit: I'm not saying I agree with this. But it doesn't take much to see folks putting others down for nudity. YM…

[deleted]

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#158

I'm sick of people, so I'm not going to read the inevitable comments that are going to come. Look, face it, some people like taking nude photos of themselves and they like sharing them with their partners. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It's not their fault if something like this happens. People should be able to feel secure in the tech that they use, in the companies that they entrust their information…

It's definitely the fault of some individual related to the service. BUT, you must be pretty stupid to send a device away that contains sensitive information. And unfortunately, a lot of people in society don't expect this type of intrusion by a company they trust. But they should. And I don't think you can blame Google for any of this.

> BUT, you must be pretty stupid to send a device away that contains sensitive information.

Irrelevant

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it is true that you can erase an entire flash device in a split second. But that doesn't help you if the erase command was not implemented correctly. And I am sure that you cannot implement an erase command from within the operating system. It has to be implemented in the flash memory controller. So if your hardware manufacturer got it wrong, you can't fix it.

"Our results lead to three conclusions: First, built-in commands are effective, but manufacturers sometimes implement them incorrectly. [...] We tested ATA commands for sanitizing an entire SSD, [...]. We find that while most implementations of the ATA commands are correct, others contain serious bugs that can, in some cases, result in all the data remaining intact on the drive." M. Wei, L.M. Grupp, F.E. Spada, S. Sw…

Do you believe that mobile handsets are communicating with their embedded storage devices using ATA?

Re: Pixel sent to Google for replacement. They used it to post wife's nudes online

#160

Bit of a shame that this will go viral and we’ll never know if Google would have properly handled this on their own. I’d like to think yes but it’s tough to believe the crook’s first attempt at this was also the first time they were caught. That said, I’m wondering if Google didn’t farm out their repair work to a 3rd party, leading to this situation.

> That said, I’m wondering if Google didn’t farm out their repair work to a 3rd party, leading to this situation.

They almost certainly did, since a large portion of Google's offices are staffed by contractors as well. There is no way they're paying Google salaries and benefits to the guys handling RMA phones.

And that's part of the problem. You send the phone to Google, a company you (very mistakenly) trust, and they immediately hand it over to a lowest bidder shady shop. These services should definitely be letting you know your phone is actually going to AAABob's Phone Repair Shop, and not some magical Google factory center.

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