FBI Used Paid Informants On Best Buy's Geek Squad To Flag Child Pornography

I have no problem with anyone reporting any pedo activity found anywhere the peados are so effing protected it is unreal, you go to jail for longer in the UK for not paying your council tax than you do for creating and distributing child porn makes me sick....

I wish they would bring back capital punishment for any crimes of a sexual nature against children

a reply to: Halfswede

The problem comes when you incentivize something and you can no longer maintain Providence. You have no idea that it is actually put there by the customer because you've incentivize them to add stuff to give results. No, the truth is you've got to maintain the fourth amendment in the right of people to be secure in their persons and property. The TSA should not exist paid informants like this should not exist it's a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.

I'm not saying we shouldn't let paedophiles go, just the opposite. This piece of shut is now free because the FBI didn't respect the constitution.

Jaden

And are they paid to plant that stuff into someones computer?
The FBI wouldn't ever do that ...yeah

I'm really glad I probably know.more about computers, especially my one, than anyone working in a best buy or similar place...I can't handle the idea of anyone touching or going through my computer....it feels the same as someone coming into.my house and going through my #. I've got stuff on my computer going back over ten years from my whole life. # no no #ing idiotic teenager is ever touching that #.

Honestly 99% of all computer problems you can fix with a tiny bit of common sense and Google. Most people i've helped fix computers for don't even bother or try. It's kinda the same reason it's at least useful to be able to change a tire or the fluids in your car, maybe even the brakes. If you can't do that and you get #ed over by some shady mechanic well...I dunno I feel like if you own something worth over a few hundred dollars you should at least be able to maintain it. I've never brought any of the expensive things I own to anyone for any basic easily fixable problems because I try to learn enough about the things I have to not need to.

a reply to: Halfswede


No crime deserves a "waiver" from Constitutional due process requirements.

What you're really saying, Mr. Authoritarian Wanna-be, is that a mere accusation against someone should be enough to deny them Constitutional protections including due process.

No thank you. Either the justice system will work or (more likely) it will fail. Either way, that very act satisfies due process and Constitutional requirements. There is no requirement for a functional or efficient justice system (any system that allows plea bargains is a victim of its own excesses). There IS a Constitutional requirement for due process.

That said, Geek Squad is under no obligation to uphold 4th amendment search and seizure requirements. Provided they aren't placing the images there on behalf of FBI (wouldn't surprise me), then good to see them rooting out actual criminals. All without violating due process.

I have absolutely no problem with this.

I don't know what the law is in the US but surely there has to be a caveat that states the computer in question (no matter what it contains) must be appropriated from the owner.
ie. to take a computer from the original owner would be a reason to conclude that everything on the said computer was put on by the owner. But the minute the computer is handed over to anyone else (be it repairers or anyone) it is not in the owners power or knowledge was is put on or taken off his computer.
ie. once it is handed over ,technically, it is not his computer.

a reply to: usernameconspiracy

So, you need computer work and decide to take it to Geek Squad for repair. The tech knows he can make some extra cash if he finds naughty stuff on your computer and spends who knows how much time perusing your files, and possibly copying them to an external drive to enjoy, err, I mean scrutinize later at home. Do you really want the guy you are paying to do repairs looking carefully at what you have stored on your computer? Shouldn't he be focusing on your technical issue(s) so you can get your machine back promptly?

What, you have nothing to hide? Most people probably don't, but to me this is like having a guy come in your house to paint the bedroom and then he decides to check your dresser to see if you have anything of "interest" in your panty drawer. You want to trust that those you pay for a service are doing the service, not getting paid on the side to sniff out your potentially dirty secrets.

I get it, child-porn=bad, those who have it=scum. But, those who have nothing to hide shouldn't be subject to these kind of searches and feel ok about it just because we have nothing to hide.

You realize how easy it would be to disprove planted evidence in this scenario, right? Right-click, "Properties", Windows gives you a listing of when a file was created and when it was last modified. For example, I can pull up a file here I know I saved about ten years ago, it shows as being created March 2nd, 2013 (the date it was transferred to this hard drive) and last modified in August 2007.

Edit to add: and on top of that, nowhere is due process being violated here. The FBI aren't looking through people's computers without a warrant, nor are they telling Best Buy to go digging for evidence in customer's files. What's happening here is no different than if someone called in a tip after seeing someone committing a crime.

I think this is more similar to vigilantism than someone calling in a tip when they see a crime, because it seems that the techs were ACTIVELY SEARCHING for ILLEGAL CONTENT, rather than coming upon it "BY ACCIDENT".

Also, it is POSSIBLE to change file creation date/time using utilities. SOURCE

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed

originally posted by: Wardaddy454

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed

originally posted by: Wardaddy454

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed

originally posted by: Wardaddy454

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed
I don't support or condone ugly things, but a business that solicits customers to make money and corporate fortune who rats on their customers are total scum bags just as bad as any perps they might encounter while repairing computers. Any company that does this deserves nothing but eradication from the planet. Calling them The Judas squad. I wonder how much money the FBI paid them to betray their own customers.

So reporting Child porn makes them as bad as the pedo's, because they also happen to be in the business of computers?

Sounds like despite "not supporting or condoning ugly things" you'd have been ok if the squad let the pedo's slide... Surely not.

Having said that, if you're worried about people snooping around, learn to fix your own computer.

Amazing logical fallacy. How many? I count three in your reply. Having nothing whatsoever to do with anything I said to boot.
CNN called, they like your style.

A business that uses you to make money from you, their lifeblood, stabs you in the back when they are finished. And it is all arbitrary.
I think it's good to catch these people, but not in this manner. That is pure dog ShT. Like your reply was.

I was just addressing your initial fallacious post.

I see you're argument has run its course already.

Hey if backstabbing your customers floats your boat, be my guest. You would fit right in there.

Well one, you know nothing about me.

Two, no one is forced to do business with them, and there are a plethora of small computer shops all over that would be more than happy for the new business.

Three, if a customer is an actual pedophile and the pictures on the computer are of children the individual has had direct face to face contact with, should he be stopped and put away ASAP, or do we just let it slide for now so we save costumer feelings.

It is sad you didn't understand my first post. I was just pointing that "Sinning to catch a sinner" is what geek squad is doing on behalf of our FBI. Both things are as bad as the other.
Hope that helps.

a business that solicits customers to make money and corporate fortune who rats on their customers are total scum bags just as bad as any perps they might encounter while repairing computers. Any company that does this deserves nothing but eradication from the planet. Calling them The Judas squad. I wonder how much money the FBI paid them to betray their own customers.

What's sad is when called out people tend to resort to "I was just...". You went straight to hate mode.

And you never addressed my original point. Lets say the squad came across a teen's laptop with a file laying out plans to shoot up his school. Would you be against them notifying the authorities to check it out?

As I've said before, you are not forced to use Geek Squad. There are mom & pop computer repair stores all over. Or you can learn to fix the basic stuff yourself.

I don't think I would doubt that my files were snooped through if I was having my computer looked at, so none of this surprises me at all. It humors me. I have no sympathy for predators. I do wonder how many Asian men and women were flattered/embarrassed by this? I think Asians age so gracefully/don't age at all! If you're doing something illegal or immoral, expect to be caught and held accountable.

Another issue is now that you've paid someone to report this they now are obligated to review and determine what might be legal or illegal. Should a Best Buy employee be the one reviewing photos and deciding what is legal and what isn't?

You've now got someone scrutinizing parent'ss pictures of their children or worse yet now trying to determine is that topless lady 17 years old or 18? A Best Buy employee is not trained, nor qualified to be analyzing and making these determinations.

originally posted by: seattlerat
a reply to: usernameconspiracy

So, you need computer work and decide to take it to Geek Squad for repair. The tech knows he can make some extra cash if he finds naughty stuff on your computer and spends who knows how much time perusing your files, and possibly copying them to an external drive to enjoy, err, I mean scrutinize later at home. Do you really want the guy you are paying to do repairs looking carefully at what you have stored on your computer? Shouldn't he be focusing on your technical issue(s) so you can get your machine back promptly?

What, you have nothing to hide? Most people probably don't, but to me this is like having a guy come in your house to paint the bedroom and then he decides to check your dresser to see if you have anything of "interest" in your panty drawer. You want to trust that those you pay for a service are doing the service, not getting paid on the side to sniff out your potentially dirty secrets.

I get it, child-porn=bad, those who have it=scum. But, those who have nothing to hide shouldn't be subject to these kind of searches and feel ok about it just because we have nothing to hide.

Shoulder shrug. I have to go through a metal detector before I enter a sporting event, my wife has to have her bag searched. Nothing to hide. No big deal.

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed

originally posted by: Wardaddy454

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed

originally posted by: Wardaddy454

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed
I don't support or condone ugly things, but a business that solicits customers to make money and corporate fortune who rats on their customers are total scum bags just as bad as any perps they might encounter while repairing computers. Any company that does this deserves nothing but eradication from the planet. Calling them The Judas squad. I wonder how much money the FBI paid them to betray their own customers.

So reporting Child porn makes them as bad as the pedo's, because they also happen to be in the business of computers?

Sounds like despite "not supporting or condoning ugly things" you'd have been ok if the squad let the pedo's slide... Surely not.

Having said that, if you're worried about people snooping around, learn to fix your own computer.

Amazing logical fallacy. How many? I count three in your reply. Having nothing whatsoever to do with anything I said to boot.
CNN called, they like your style.

A business that uses you to make money from you, their lifeblood, stabs you in the back when they are finished. And it is all arbitrary.
I think it's good to catch these people, but not in this manner. That is pure dog ShT. Like your reply was.

I was just addressing your initial fallacious post.

I see you're argument has run its course already.

Hey if backstabbing your customers floats your boat, be my guest. You would fit right in there.

if covering up a felony floats your boat, you have your own problems.