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submitted 11 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

T-Mobile sued after employee stole nude images from customer phone during trade-in::T-Mobile has been sued again for failing to protect consumer data after an employee at one of its Washington stores stole nude images off of a customer's phone.

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[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 24 points 11 months ago

So what do you do if you literally cant wipe the phone I.e broken screen? Just never have anything there to begin with?

[-] d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz 8 points 11 months ago

Phones these days are encrypted. If you ever set up a pin/password to unlock your phone, that means it's encrypted. Just make sure your phone is powered off or restarted (or battery drained, if the off button isn't working), before you drop it off at the repair shop.

No one can access your files in this state - not even the manufacturer (unless there's backdoor, but that's a different topic - but even then, there are many "secure folder" type apps you could use to encrypt sensitive data).

[-] diffcalculus@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

If it's just a broken screen, Google your way in learning how to repair it yourself.

Or, find a shop that will repair it in front of you the whole time. Pay extra if need be

Or, if the material is too sensitive and the above options aren't viable:

  1. accept the loss and destroy the phone. Or,
  2. accept that whatever is in there will be viewed

The good thing with a problem like this is that your options are limited. So there's not a whole hell of a lot of decision tree making you need to do.

[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 11 months ago

Stop being logical! We need to find holes!

[-] PastaGorgonzola@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Remote wipes are possible. Log into your Apple/Google account, figure out how to find your device, then perform a remote wipe.

[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 15 points 11 months ago

Assuming the device is powered on and can connect to a network to recieve the instruction.

[-] Chilihuahua@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Plug it into a computer and delete the files that way?

[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Youve never actually had that happen if you think its that easy.

Guys no...

  1. You cant wipe a phone remotely with your google sign on unless "find my device" is enabled, which it never was.

  2. My phone does not just give access automatically to any device plugged into it. You are REQUIRED to give permission from the phone. Which cant be done because the screen is fucked.

  3. Your phone SHOULDNT be accessible in this scenario because allowing any device to just plug in and download everything with no authentication is a security risk.

[-] wgbirne@feddit.de 5 points 11 months ago

It is still possible to unlock an android phone with a fucked screen.

I had to do this once and managed to unlock the phone with a USB mouse. It took me a while to get the right pattern, but it is possible.

[-] Zink@programming.dev 4 points 11 months ago

I mean sure it’s not easy to remote wipe if you never set up the feature that lets you remote wipe.

[-] lemann@lemmy.one 2 points 11 months ago

My phone does not just give access automatically to any device plugged into it. You are REQUIRED to give permission from the phone. Which cant be done because the screen is fucked.

The first ever Android I had (Galaxy S4) was sadly dropped by a friend, and the oled screen was toast within a few days... thankfully I had previously authorized ADB on my main computer, had it paired to a Sony Ericsson LiveView (with OpenLiveView), and my bluetooth headset was set up to automatically launch the music player when connected. Could also make calls using the voice assistant (forgot what it was called back then, S-Voice or something?) needless to say a screen replacement wasn't urgent at all.

Can't say I'd be able to do the same nowadays on modern Android with all the forced app killing and stuff, as well as Google Assistant being a massive downgrade (believe most useful actions on a smashed device would require unlocking, and on-screen confirmation)

[-] antizero99@lemmynsfw.com -5 points 11 months ago

It depends on how the phone is setup and whether or not you have plugged in to a pc before. It sounds like it's you that has that no idea.

Most android phones (can't speak to Apple) are pretty much plug and play via USB. Plug it in and browse the files on it, it's slow as hell and may be retrievable by software designed to undelete files but it's doable, you may have to approve the connection on the phone but if you have plugged it in prior then you probable don't have to.

[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Dude the goddamned phone requires that you confirm permission to access or manipulate anything on that phone. You cant just plug a usb cable in and fuck with everything. What the hell sort of phones do you guys buy that it just does that with no security measures?

[-] Risk@feddit.uk 2 points 11 months ago

Nope. Had this happen with my wife's phone. Because developer mode had not been enabled previously and the screen was completely inactive, there was absolutely no way to wipe the phone.

Choice was either pay a stupid amount of money to get the screen repaired (and I've had a bad experience with screen repairs actually working) or bin the phone and hope that nobody bothers to try and fix and then gain access. :/

this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
507 points (98.5% liked)

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