Privacy Concerns in the Cell Phone Repair Industry

Privacy Concerns in the Cell Phone Repair Industry

This past June, a man in Jefferson City, MO was accused of stealing sexually explicit photos from a customer's phone and sharing them online without her consent. Even more unfortunately, it wasn't a one-time offense for him. This disturbing crime was carried out over the course of several months, and when police seized his personal phone, they discovered stolen photos of at least 15 other women. Sounds like a pretty serious invasion of privacy, right? According to KRCG 13 News, a grand jury thought so, too. "The grand jurors indicted Guadalupe Villegas-Carrera for allegedly knowingly possessed child pornography of a person less than 18-years-old. The grand jurors also indicted him on the charge of invasion of privacy saying that on or about February 15 Villegas-Carrera knowingly circulated a photograph in which a person was knowingly photographed nude or partially nude without the knowledge and consent of the person."   [caption id="attachment_9644" align="aligncenter" width="840"] Does your cell phone repair shop have a zero-tolerance privacy policy?[/caption]   Unfortunately, this isn't the first time a wireless shop employee got too comfortable with the private contents of a customer's phone. In 2012, two Verizon employees were indicted on felony charges of stolen property after stealing nude photos of a customer and sharing them with another customer - a local bartender. They might have gotten away with it had they known the bartender was friends with the woman in the photos. As reported by Digital Trends, this led to both young men being arrested and charged with felony crimes. At the time of arrest, the offenders were 24 and 26 years old. The link title of the article above says what many people believe to be true: Entrusting Smartphone Backups to a Stranger is Not Advisable. It's only a matter of time before national media starts addressing privacy concerns in the wireless repair industry. When they do, will the same words of warning be used to discourage consumers from trusting independently-owned repair shops? This is a topic no one wants to address, and a topic I hesitate to write about and share with the community, because it uncovers a much deeper issue within our industry. If we want repair customers to take us seriously, and if we want consumers to consider ours a legitimate industry, we can't take any customer's privacy for granted. We can't let this become - or continue to be - an issue. To gain the trust of our communities, we must set the standard and adopt a zero-tolerance policy for our technicians and ourselves. We must always do the right thing.   [caption id="attachment_9638" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Because we know you don't trust your phone with just anyone...[/caption]   There's no room in this discussion for excuses or rationalizations. No, "If they don't want their private photos stolen/shared/seen, they shouldn't keep them on their phone." That isn’t the issue here, as this goes far beyond racy photos. What about private contact lists, government data, confidential legal documents, HIPPA violations? You know how much of a person's life is stored on our phones these days, so much to say that your customers are nearly trusting you with their life. That's a huge responsibility with mountains of trust involved - and one instance of morally questionable behavior is all it takes to destroy that. Of course, during post-repair testing procedures you might need to test the camera. Yes, your customers may trust you with their passcode. And yes, there are some things you might see by total accident. Or, you might see them by "accident." Just don't get caught and you'll be fine, right? To our male readers out there, if you're still listening, I can tell you with absolute certainty: women are insane creatures who notice everything, and as you know, we love to talk. If something seems out of place after getting a phone repair, and it's something that makes us question you or our privacy, we will most certainly notice and feel creeped out. We might not tell the police, but we'll be sure to tell all our friends not to go to your repair shop. Protecting the privacy of your customers is important. As an emerging industry, how do we fix this? We want to know what you think, so let's talk. What does your cell phone repair shop do to protect the privacy of your customers? Do you have a privacy policy? What steps have you taken to create a welcoming and trustworthy environment for your customers? We want to hear what you have to say about consumer privacy in the cell phone repair industry, so let us know in the COMMENTS below!