This is – of course – the TIP of the iceberg! Who else is monitoring you? You may be a “law abiding citizen” but do you really want all that weirdness you hide documented by strangers? Do you want that info used against you in a divorce / custody trial? Could this info be used against you when applying for your next job? Or… Could that info be used to convict you of a crime as circumstantial evidence (see the Memphis 3 trial) There is no doubt this should be illegal! BOYCOTT corporations who engage in this style of behavior! Trust no one. (See our past stories on “security systems”) ~ JB
DUCT TAPE that thing!
WSJ
It’s not just giant internet companies and the world’s spy agencies that those concerned about their privacy need to be worried about — unwelcome intrusions can come from much less obvious places.
From an FTC announcement today:
Aaron’sAAN +0.79%, Inc., a national, Atlanta-based rent-to-own retailer, has agreed to settle FTC charges that it knowingly played a direct and vital role in its franchisees’ installation and use of software on rental computers that secretly monitored consumers including by taking webcam pictures of them in their homes.
According to the FTC’s complaint, Aaron’s franchisees used the software, which surreptitiously tracked consumers’ locations, captured images through the computers’ webcams – including those of adults engaged in intimate activities – and activated keyloggers that captured users’ login credentials for email accounts and financial and social media sites.
“Consumers have a right to rent computers free of cyberspying and to know when and how they are being tracked by a company,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “By enabling their franchisees to use this invasive software, Aaron’s facilitated a violation of many consumers’ privacy.”
Intimate activities!
A spokesperson for Aaron’s declined to comment on the announcement.
The FTC said the proposed settlement includes a prohibition against the company “using monitoring technology that captures keystrokes or screenshots, or activates the camera or microphone on a consumer’s computer,” for anything other than customer support. It will also have to notify customers — and get their consent — if the products they are renting contain location-tracking technology.
Today’s announcement follows a series of prior FTC moves looking into tracking software installed on computers by rental companies. In September 2012, the regulator called out seven rental companies, and the designer of the software, announcing a settlement that was finally approved this April.
The software included legitimate features that the regulator did not object to, including a remote “kill switch” letting the rental company disable a computer if it was stolen of if the customer stopped making payments. But it also included a so-called “detective mode” allowing more problematic features, including capturing a stream of images from the computer’s camera.
See also:
Aaron’s Rent-To-Own Chain Settles FTC Charges That it Enabled Computer Spying by Franchisees – FTC
Also: