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Apple Employees at Carindale Store in Australia Fired in Photo Scandal [Updated]
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Isn't that how Facebook started?
Not much different (yet equally as creepy) as the practice of 'extra-printing' of customer's 'nudies' for personal use and/or 'trophy-boards' that was going on at certain photo labs prior to the switch to digital photography.
Glad to see swift and decisive action on Apple's part.
Glad to see swift and decisive action on Apple's part.
Very immature behaviour I'm sure these bad employees wouldn't have liked it if it was done to them. Next time one goes to the Apple Store needs to empty the phone and then recover the info with iCloud.
That's assuming that you actually can delete the phone's content when the handset is defective. Similarly, what about defective and unresponsive HDDs in your iMac, or TimeCapsules with all your Data and keychain info on it, that you have to leave at the Apple Store when exchanged under warranty?
I've twice emailed Tim my concerns about this, but have yet to receive a reply.
I wipe my phone before I hand it over. Use iCloud to restore.
Otherwise HIPAA...
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True. I pay to keep the drive if it's a computer.
You're completely right and for those who cannot delete their stuff they have to trust Apple employees that they will not look into their private information, for now that trust is compromised and eroded with employees behaving like they're working in a sex shop.
p.s. try emailing Phil Schiller
haha --- all the pics on a Note 7 are smoking hot
So people are handing Apple employees a device with pictures that they don't want seen, but then also give a password? Folks something is way wrong. First rule never give a password out - no exception. Second if Apple has a policy of asking for password - class action lawsuit here we come.
To fire these guys seems like the right thing to do, but this may not end their. Being asked to give a full access to private data seems problematic and full of legal hot water for Apple.
To fire these guys seems like the right thing to do, but this may not end their. Being asked to give a full access to private data seems problematic and full of legal hot water for Apple.
I actually work near where this Apple Store is and when I walked past it today, it has security guards at the side of the entrance. Maybe to control media if they want to snoop employees with questions?
The best option is to wipe ones data off any iPhone iPad or Apple computer prior to turning it over into someone else's hands for any type of troubleshooting, repairs and the like. You wouldn't hand over a wallet full of cash, why hand over your personal data...
Apple store employee always look at me funny when I don't want to provide them with the password (yes, they DO ask) and when I don't want to login to my iMac or such. They ask why, but at the same time say "We respect your choice, it is okay", but I still get the look. And I simply say: It's a personal computer, not a 'personal, until you want access to it'. I come there for a hardware failure, they can use their own drives, or use the guest account. I just don't trust other people with my content. It's personal, plain and simple. And news articles like these, make me not regret my choices.
Don't take your devices into a store with the expectation your data will remain private. Just ask Gary Glitter.
It isn't political in nature. It was deemed, for whatever reason, likely to attract heated discussion. The MacRumors standard practice is to redirect comments for such posts to a section of the forums called "Politics, Religion, Social Issues", where one needs to have made at least 100 posts (if I recall correctly) previously in order to participate. This is done to try to avoid drive-by posting by brand new accounts, sock-puppet accounts, etc., to try to maintain some level of decorum. Thus, the controlling factor isn't politics, but rather an attempt to set a minimum bar to keep the conversation a bit more reasonable - it's just that the tool at hand has the word "politics" in its name.
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Glad Apple is taking steps to deal with this. Having been in IT support for a couple of decades, I've been asked to recover data from unbeatable computers by family in friends more than once some of which have contained candid material. There is a difference between being privy to such material and actively duplicating it for ones own retention. Duplicating and rating the material in an employee group was going to be discovered at some point and the reputational damage both for the store itself and Apple in general has the potential to be huge.
As for wipe and clear before heading in for a repair - WAY too many people do not have any sort of backup (iCloud, OneDrive, Google Photos, computer sync) of their photos beyond a select one or two being posted on Facebook. Indeed the local press has the usual once or twice a month story of a tearful someone asking for their stolen phone to be returned as it has the last photos of a now passed relative on. I'd image some of the phones submitted for repair at Apple are this scenario or similar.
As for wipe and clear before heading in for a repair - WAY too many people do not have any sort of backup (iCloud, OneDrive, Google Photos, computer sync) of their photos beyond a select one or two being posted on Facebook. Indeed the local press has the usual once or twice a month story of a tearful someone asking for their stolen phone to be returned as it has the last photos of a now passed relative on. I'd image some of the phones submitted for repair at Apple are this scenario or similar.
What's up with that right? You have to pay Apple to keep the old drive, which you already have paid for.
I agree that getting fired from a job in retail isn't enough punishment for something like this, but your other statement feels a little like victim blaming. It really isn't clear from the article whether the stolen photos were explicit, they were just private, as photos generally are. Apple staff generally come across as trustworthy, and interactions in store can happen very fast. I wouldn't blame anyone for letting their defences down, especially when the person opposite is trying to help them. I've been taken completely off guard several times in Apple stores by how fast things can happen. I once went in with a phone I had damaged by dropping it. I got a free replacement so fast I felt like I was in a magic act. Same thing happened with an iPad I broke. It just vanished and suddenly I had a brand new one. I wasnt going to stand and argue about my privacy, I just wanted to bag it and run.
Why is this thread subject "political" ? Makes no sense to me. It should be open to everyone, securing your iPhone/Mac data before handing it to repair by AppleStore employees is an important issue , and we need to hear all approaches to the matter..
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