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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

#221

Post by Arubis »

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…

The least believable part of this story is that they _called Google_ and _talked to someone._ How?

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

#222

Post by jandrese »

jfrunyon wrote: post #171

[dubious - discuss] There's a few things that make this pretty unlikely. Google doesn't triage or repair the phones themselves, they contract it out just like everyone else. And the people they contract it out to almost certainly have procedures in place which are meant to ensure that neither the devices themselves nor the data on them get out. I'm not saying it's false, but I would definitely take it with a grain of…

> And the people they contract it out to almost certainly have procedures in place which are meant to ensure that neither the devices themselves nor the data on them get out.

I think your impression of what phone repair places are like may not match reality. The industry is far more ad-hoc and margin chasing than the rows of immaculate benches staffed by well paid professionals in a brightly lit facility like they might show in a brochure.

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

#223

Post by TrueGeek »

exabrial wrote: post #215

Even worse: Never lend your google phones to friends. If they hard reset the phone before handing it back to you, Google will refuse to reactivate them. I exhausted every option with their support and am left with a $800 brick.

Your friend factory reset the phone and put their own password on it? To be fair to Google, they should refuse - if they agreed to wipe someone else's account that would be a HUGE breach of protocol based just on your word. What would keep people from selling used phones and then calling Google to deactivate them? Or just calling Google and deactivating random phones?

If your "friend" refuses to log out and re-reset it then the correct thing to do here is to report it to your homeowners insurance. Your friend basically stole your phone. Insurance should pay for it and then they can go after your friend to get their money back.

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

#224

Post by vadfa »

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…

>Look, face it, some people like taking nude photos of themselves and they like sharing them with their partners.

Look, face it, actions have consequences.

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

#225

Post by hutzlibu »

tobyjsullivan wrote: post #203
kroltan wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if _everything_ is always saved on the card, then you don't need the technical knowledge. Removing the card would leave the phone in a "factory clean" condition.

If everything is on the SD card (as in: it won't work w/o the card inserted), then it will have to come with a card pre-installed. In that case, the average user won't even realize there's a removable card. It's turtles all the way down.

Well, all the user data, like pictures could be placed on the sd by default.

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

#226

Post by jonathantf2 »

exabrial wrote: post #215

Even worse: Never lend your google phones to friends. If they hard reset the phone before handing it back to you, Google will refuse to reactivate them. I exhausted every option with their support and am left with a $800 brick.

Why would they hard reset them? You've confused me

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

#227

Post by BiteCode_dev »

dahart wrote: post #205
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So why is “advice” to avoid repair and eat the costs considered a tenable solution? It's not an "or" proposition. You can fully push for a society where such behavior is dealt with or inexistant, because that's the right thing to do. At the same time, you can ackownledge this life is full of terrible unfair things, and preparing for them can spare you a lof of pain.

> It’s not an “or” proposition. I agree, but I’m confused; I didn’t make an or proposition, and you followed that statement with one. We can realistically deal with privacy problems using laws, and we cannot realistically ever expect people to never repair devices that have private information on them. Right? There’s also an unfortunate environmental downside to suggesting that people avoid repair.

It's about taking precautions in general, not avoiding repair in particular.

And deal with privacy problems at the society levels, not just using laws in particular.

And it's not "or" them. It's "and".

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

#228

Post by inetknght »

rootusrootus wrote: post #206
KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #187

I read a history of the NSA recently [0], and what struck me is that every time the NSA's code-breaking techniques were invalidated, this was due to a US agent leaking secrets to adversaries. If the NSA cannot address every insider threat, why do we expect tech companies to be hermetically sealed? [0] Code Warriors , Stephen Budiansky ( https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/236807/code-warrior... ).

NSA agents have to know some secrets, or they can't do their job. Repair techs at Google/Apple/etc do not need to know any secrets in order to do their job.

> Repair techs at Google/Apple/etc do not need to know any secrets in order to do their job.

Certainly not state secrets. But they do need to know trade secrets. For example: exact (official) replacement products, procedures, and documentation steps in order to ensure the device doesn't show up as "this is fraudulent or pirated or hacked or modified or whatever the fuck the copyright overlords demand can't be done".

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

#230

Post by qwertox »

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

> About a month ago my wife broke her pixel phone. It couldn't be turned on so we couldn't wipe it.

That says it all. You can't expect them to try 24/7 until they get a confirmation. In addition, I doubt that they would have included the SIM card in the RMA, which means that the device would not be online through mobile, and there's no reason for the repair shop to connect the device to the WiFi as the first step, so that any erase-request can come through.

You either trust the RMA process or you burn your phone.

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