Aaron Computer Rental Firm Spies On Users 510
An anonymous reader writes with word from Yahoo news of a lawsuit "filed on behalf of a Wyoming couple who said they learned about the PC Rental Agent 'device and/or software' inside the computer they rented last year when an Aaron's Inc. store manager in Casper came to their home on Dec. 22. The manager tried to repossess the computer because he mistakenly believed the couple hadn't finished paying for it, the couple said. Brian Byrd, 26, said the manager showed him a picture of Byrd using the computer — taken by the computer's webcam. The image was shot with the help of spying software, which the lawsuit contends is made by North East, Pa.-based Designerware LLC and is installed on all Aaron's rental computers."
On the motherboard? (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, they had to go with a hardware/software solution, when they could have very easily done it in software only? And what does that do to the warranty from the original manufacturer, soldering new parts into your motherboard usually voids those.
Also, given the demographic of people who "Rent to Own", I'd hate to see some of those webcam shots...
HEX
Re:Electrical tape over the webcam (Score:5, Funny)
Easy to solve - just run Linux, and there's pretty much no chance of the webcam working even if you wanted it to ;)
Re:from TFA: owning it outright vs OS (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Whoops (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Whoops (Score:5, Funny)
Personally anytime I'm on my mbp I just sit there nude while I program. If anyone spies on me they deserve what they get!