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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

#161

Post by Johnny555 »

JohnFen wrote: post #83
VortexDream wrote: post #4

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…

Agreed. I think the mistake here wasn't the nudes, it was sending in the phone without wiping it first. Never trust anyone with your phone.

That's not always an option -- my last android phone died with a reboot loop. It was several years old so I opted to discard and replace it (after opening it up and snapping the main circuit board in half), but if it was newer and I wanted warranty service, I'd have no choice but to send it in for repair, unwiped. In theory, device encryption would protect my data unless the service center has some way around it.

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

#162

Post by BiteCode_dev »

advisedwang wrote: post #95
ARandomerDude wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody: "I can't believe it! I like to leave stacks of $100 bills on the seat in my car and my car keeps getting broken into. Outrageous!" Somebody else: "You should probably take or hide the cash when you get out of your car." Offering wisdom for how to avoid a bad situation twice is not the same thing as blaming the victim.

A better analogy is a mechanic stealing money out of your car. And not money on view either, some place they'd have to look for it like in the visor.

It still works.

I would blame the mechanic, sue if necessary, but it's still good advice not to let any valuable in your car if you lend it to a 3rd party.

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

#163

Post by ben_w »

beervirus wrote: post #7
mabbo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously? You're blaming the victim?

It’s not the victim’s fault. But still… it’s only prudent to take precautions.

While true, the counterpoint is that in practice nobody can take sufficient precautions, we only think we can until it goes wrong.

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

#164

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

Tagbert wrote: post #148
paulgdp wrote: post #124

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…

In this case, the phone would not turn on prior to repair and could not be wiped.

How did the person conducting repair power it on and unlock it then?

Edit: I mean how did they bypass the lock screen?

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

#165

Post by seabird »

mabbo wrote: post #5
raxxorrax wrote: post #2

Really should think about just paying another few hundred bucks and just keep the device if it contains nude photos of your wife which you cannot wipe. Don't send that device anywhere... Provided this story is true, I would guess the device might never have reached Google and it might have been stolen on the way there. Don't know what that would mean for liability.

Seriously? You're blaming the victim?

I seriously think we're at a point where we just need to say "yes, we're blaming the victim", not because we actually are, or think it's the victims fault, but because engaging this line of questioning is a complete waste of time.

The person whose nudes were stolen and published did not deserve it and did not ask for it, but it's not productive to tell them (and society at large) that there was nothing they could have done to avoid or mitigate the situation. There are bad actors in this world and we all do things tens or even hundreds of times a day to minimize their impact.

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

#166

Post by rootusrootus »

mattnewton wrote: post #37
bhawks wrote: post #26

The RMA instructions should include using android.com/find to lock and wipe an inoperable device if it ever gets turned on again. https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6160491?hl=en

This is what apple asks you to do IIRC. They could have just copied that practice instead of having to learn the hard way why ಠ,_｣ಠ Though, this apparently didn't save apple in at least one recent case: https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/7/22522560/apple-repair-mult...

> this apparently didn't save apple

I can't imagine it would. It isn't a contract, just a best practices guide. Apple and Google are still ultimately responsible for what their employees do on the job.

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

#167

Post by pixl97 »

armchairhacker wrote: post #142
ccn0p wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I see it every time the topic comes up I hear you, and agree wholeheartedly that there is "absolutely nothing wrong with this", but maybe if the topic keeps coming up, people should have less trust in the companies (and their respective flawed human supply chains) that keep our information.... and act accordingly. Unfortunately that's easier said than done these days.

I don't trust Apple to not snoop on my iPhone and macbook, share the data with law-enforcement, and maybe use it to sell ads. I do trust them to not log in to my bank and transfer all my money to Tim Cook.

If your money gets stolen, there is a in most financial institutions a clear line of punishment and restitution for committing said crime.

Unfortunately with snooping, we have little to no such protection, in which to many (in US) is a major erosion of constitutional rights.

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

#168

Post by oh_sigh »

t0mas88 wrote: post #127
flatiron wrote: post #115

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.

Assuming any of it is true, and he isn't just LARPing based on what he read about Apple a few months ago. I'd put the odds at 50/50.

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

#169

Post by Consultant32452 »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #110
Consultant32452 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what kinds of tickets, if any, justify them asking you for your unlock pattern.

This week I was in a chat with the REAL support of a crypto currency. Unable to help me with my problem at first (we eventually figured it out), they felt they hit a dead end and said: "ok, just send us your wallet.dat, we'll fix it". I know those guy were the real deal. I knew they would not try to steal the money I had on this wallet, because it was so little it was not even worth the time. Yet, the fact they asked…

I once got my screen replaced at one of the phone fix-it places. It's a decent sized chain, not just some rando. On the form you fill out during drop-off it asks you for your unlock code.

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

#170

Post by INTPenis »

imbnwa wrote: post #158
INTPenis wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It is relevant because there's a massive deficit in basic infosec among the populations of the world. Why keep blaming big corporations when we need to get smarter ourselves?
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